Monday 10th February, 2025 01:13 PM|

Saboti Constituency Member of Parliament Caleb Amisi has suspended criticism of President William Ruto and his administration.

In a statement on Monday, February 10, 2025, the vocal lawmaker announced that he would not reprimand the head of state for fear that he would not vote for former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the upcoming elections for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson slated for February 15, 2025.

The Saboti legislator claimed that he had been warned that his sustained attacks could make Ruto change his mind.

However, for his unwavering support of Raila Odinga’s AUC chairmanship candidature, Saboti announced the temporary withdrawal of his attacks and criticism of the government of the day.

“From today until AUC elections are officially over, I will not criticise Ruto and his government.

“I will leave no stone unturned in supporting Raila for AUC. I am told Ruto may choose not to vote for Baba because of Caleb and others who speak up against his bad policies,” he wrote on X.

Caleb noted that he would begin questioning Ruto and his administration after the AUC elections are done and the winner is announced.

The lawmaker sustained attacks on the head of state despite some ODM members agreeing to work with President Ruto under the broad-based government formation.

His attacks triggered strife in ODM with some members wholeheartedly supporting the government while others continued to question some of Kenya Kwanza’s decisions.

The simmering rift within the opposition party played out during a meeting on Sunday, February 9, 2025, where leaders read different scripts regarding the political direction of the party.

While top party honchos insisted that ODM was in government, some members openly differed insisting that the party needed to back Ruto’s administration due to his support for Raila’s bid and the broad-based government formation.

In his address during the meeting, Amisi warned of a possible party disintegration if a clear directive was not adopted and agreed upon by all members.

Today, I shared a piece of mind from my cup of wisdom at the kakamega odm delegates meeting. We pray for Raila to win #AUC pic.twitter.com/ERNwbxMQSe

— Hon. Caleb Amisi, MP (@Honcalebamisi) February 9, 2025

This was after top party officials skipped the Kakamega meeting including Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, Deputy Party Leader Abdulswamad Sherif Nassir and Minority Leader Junet Mohamed.

During the meeting, it emerged that some members were contradicting Sifuna and threatening him with sanctions. However, Kisumu Governor and Interim Party leader Anyang Nyong’o warned members against contradicting Sifuna.

He further directed all ODM members to rally behind Raila and expressed confidence that he would take over the AUC chairmanship position from Moussa Faki after the February 15, 2025 elections.

Raila has so far received endorsement from over 15 countries and backing on that support to beat his rivals Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and Madagascar’s former Foreign Minister Richard James Randriamandrato.

The heads of state will vote through a secret ballot and Raila would need to get two-thirds of the votes to win in the first round.