Azimio threatens disciplinary action against MPs attending President Ruto's meeting

The Azimio La Umoja coalition party is now threatening to take action against disloyal Members of Parliament, even as President William Ruto tries to invade Raila Odinga’s troops.

The pronouncement by Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi comes on a day President Ruto met 9 ODM legislators at State House in what could be a blow to Odinga’s continued stance of not recognizing Ruto election win.

Azimio coalition has called for a must-attend meeting of their National Assembly members on Thursday, a meeting that will be attended by party honchos.

“We are going to use that opportunity to take count of our troops as we gear up for the second session of the National Assembly. We must always try to find out how the troops are doing we want to see if they are still intact, and therefore it’s in order to take stock of the gains we have made and the possible losses we might have incurred since we went for the long recess,” Wandayi said.

Despite saying attendance of the ongoing political meetings is not mandatory, Wandayi said Thursday’s meeting is a must-attend.

“We have made it very clear that we want every Azimio MP to attend, of course, there might be cases that are beyond our control, but we want everyone to attend, and we will treat every case on its merit. We can’t assume that all those not attending are rebelling,” he said.

However, MPs who attended the meeting with President Ruto earlier today have dismissed claims that they are rebelling against their party leader.

“We went to follow up on the meetings we had when President Ruto toured Nyanza, and he has assured us that the projects we discussed will be implemented,” said Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda.

Ochanda insisted no politics was discussed during the early morning meeting and even claimed there will be a follow-up meeting next week.

“It’s not true that we are rebelling against the party, we never talked about politics, it was all about development, and we will be attending the Parliamentary Group meeting. Politics and development are two different things and we will continue following our party,” Ochanda said.

The ODM party has castigated the MPs who attended the meeting with President Ruto, claiming that Kenya Kwanza coalition has started spending stolen money to hoodwink some of their elected leaders with the aim of trying to scuttle their activities.

“Such meetings are aimed at diverting the attention of Kenyans from issues they are faced with, ranging from the high cost of living, unbearable school fees for their children and corruption,” the statement read in part.

However, ODM party chair John Mbadi has urged for a consensus among the rank and file of the party to ensure synergy in its activities going forward.

“Development is not got in State House, we need to have coordinated approach, we can have a party that the party is saying this, and members are doing the opposite, the party leader is saying this and the chairman is doing the opposite, that will not be a party… that will be chaos and that won’t help us grow,” Mbadi said.

The nine who attended the meeting with President Ruto are Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda, MPs Felix Odiwuor (Langata), Mark Nyamita (Uriri), Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Gideon Ochanda (Bondo), Elisha Odhiambo (Gem), Paul Abuor (Rongo) and Walter Owino (Awendo).

Independent MP Shakeel Shabir (Kisumu East) who has been voting with the minority side in Parliament also attended the morning meeting at State House.