'We’re not interested in Gov't jobs’: Azimio hits back at President Ruto

The Azimio la Umoja coalition party has hit back at President William Ruto over remarks that he will not appoint any member of the opposition to his government.

President Ruto, who spoke as he opened the Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group retreat in Naivasha on Friday, said: “We have accepted that we are not going to appoint any member of the opposition into government because we want a vibrant opposition. We want an opposition that will keep the government in check because we have nothing to hide and we want to run an accountable government.”

However, Azimio co-principal Kalonzo Musyoka on Saturday told off President Ruto saying the coalition party leaders are not interested in taking up any jobs in his Cabinet in the first place.

According to the Wiper party leader, Azimio leaders have already taken up their role in the opposition and are looking forward to keeping President Ruto’s government in check.

"Let it be known that the leaders in Azimio are not interested in any jobs whatsoever from the Executive. We already have a lot of work to do in keeping the Executive under check," said Kalonzo.

Kalonzo, who was flanked by other Azimio members, key among them party leader Raila Odinga, likewise continued the coalition's scathing attacks on Ruto's administration.

He shared similar sentiments as Odinga who previously he intimated that the Executive was allegedly using bribes in an attempt to put  the Judiciary under its control.

"Financial and operational autonomy of the Judiciary cannot and will not be guaranteed by tokenism. It can only be assured by creating an environment that guarantees clear separation of powers between the three arms of government, and whereas funds are necessary for effective dispensation of justice," said the Wiper boss.

"It is not the business of a President acting in isolation to allocate funds to the Judiciary, appropriation of funds to public institutions is a constitutional mandate of Parliament. The President must tame his appetite of throwing money at the institutions."

He similarly castigated the Head of State for removing the subsidy on maize, intimating that this was a clear example that Kenya Kwanza's Bottom-Up economic model won't be implemented by Ruto's administration despite it being popularised on the campaign trail.

"What a quick about turn when the ordinary Kenyan struggling to afford a meal a day, a government that can't feed our people has no business being in office," said Kalonzo.

"Why has the so-called Hustler narrative disappeared so soon? This is a mockery of the basic intelligence of the consumers and it must be seen for what it is."

He went on to criticize Kenya Kwanza for allegedly trying to hound out of office the four IEBC commissioners who disowned the outcome of the August presidential polls, insisting that the quartet should be left alone to continue carrying out their constitutional mandate.