'Opposition must be accountable for its activities,' Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe says

Gatundu South Member of Parliament Gabriel Kagombe has expressed support for the push to create the office of the official opposition leader, saying it is the only way to hold the opposition to account.

Speaking in a media interview on Saturday, Kagombe pointed out that the current situation where there is no office of the opposition leader in the law is what has led to the opposition engaging in unrestricted activities.

The lawmaker insists that the opposition must operate within the law.

“If you ask me, it was an oversight in the Constitution that we did not put a provision for the leader of the opposition. The opposition has to operate from a position of law so that we do not have the prerogative of the harlot which is power without responsibility,” said Kagombe.

He added: “When you are given the opposition position, you are expected to behave in a certain way. What we must avoid is what we have seen in the recent past… That an opposition leader wakes up one morning and decides what to do…. decides today we are going to riot, tomorrow we are going to picket the next day we are going to hold prayers at anniversary towers and disrupt economic activities going on in Nairobi, the next we are going to Busia then after that Kisumu."

"No. There must be a law stipulating how the opposition should behave and that law will administer the opposition,” said the MP.

The conversation on anchoring the opposition leader’s position in law has been met with mixed reactions from across the political divide.

Leaders from the Azimio opposition side have been claiming that the move is a plot by President William Ruto to tame opposition leader Raila Odinga.

During a past Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group meeting, President Ruto urged MPs to rally behind the proposal, saying it would make the minority more effective in keeping the government in check.

The President has also denied accusations that his proposal to create the Office of the Official Leader of the Opposition is a way to give Raila Odinga a formal job.

During an interview with journalists at State House in Nairobi last month, Ruto said that his aim was to promote accountability within his government.

 “I am not creating a job for anyone… I want to create an office that promotes accountability in my government. In a democracy, being power-drunk is very easy, especially if there are no checks and balances,” he said.