I will form a shadow cabinet to check the Ruto government

Senator Busia Okiya Omtatah said the government has failed to listen to the concerns expressed by Generation Z protesters.

He said President William Ruto has failed to deliver on the demands of Generation Z made during the demonstrations.

Ruto has acceded to a number of demands made by young protesters, including the withdrawal of the 2024 Finance Bill and the re-appointment of his Cabinet.

However, the inclusion of former CS members and a number of opposition leaders in the new team sparked outrage among Generation Z and some leaders.

Omtatah opposed the nomination of four ODM leaders to the broad cabinet, saying it was unconstitutional.

In a video message on Saturday, Omtatah said he would be forced to appoint a shadow cabinet to stop Ruto’s government.

“If such a cabinet is formed, some of us will be forced to appoint a shadow cabinet because we will no longer have a presidential system in which the majority and minorities control the executive power,” he said.

“We will have in fact A parliamentary system in which power comes from the House of Representatives, therefore some of us must and will be forced to appoint a shadow cabinet that can effectively check government abuses.

The president on Wednesday published the final list of candidates for cabinet members.

Ruto, however, did not mention the names of the candidates for the position of Attorney General or the representatives of the East African Community and ASAL.

The nominees included four members of the Orange Democratic Movement, including former Governor of Mombasa Hassan Joho at the Ministry Mining, Blue Economy; Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives and SME Development); John Mbadi (National Treasury) and Opiyo Wandayi at the head of the Ministry Energy and oil.

“I am particularly saddened by the fact that the list of cabinet members includes members of parliament from the opposition party and their leaders,” Omtatah said on Wednesday.

“To me, this means that the president has chosen to govern this country without the constitution that he swore to protect, defend and promote,” he added.

The senator said that the decision to nominate MPs from the opposition party is inadequate to the economic situation in the country.

On Friday, A petition has been filed to stop the nomination of key allies of Azimio leader Raila Odinga to the Cabinet.

In the petition, Julius Ogogoh, executive director of the Human Rights Commission, said their nomination would have a negative effect as their subsequent appointment would prevent the opposition from exercising its oversight role over the functioning of the government.

Ogogoh, in his petition before the court, said the opposition has a constitutional and parliamentary duty to provide checks and balances, particularly to supervise the actions of the government.

“If any member of the parties forming the Azimio coalition is nominated and successfully appointed to the cabinet, the opposition in the National Assembly will be in conflict,” Ogogoh stated in his petition.

The commission, through its lawyer Nicholas Kamwendwa, said the four individuals had a constitutional duty to oversee the functioning of the executive and other organs of government.

He explained that their nomination and appointment to the cabinet would be contrary to their constitutional duty entrusted to the opposition party by Kenyans and to the Constitution, which is to oversee the government and ensure political checks and balances.

They want the court to suspend the appointments of these four individuals as Cabinet secretaries.