Martha Karua Responds After Claims She's Planning To Exit Azimio Over Betrayal, Mistrust

• Martha Karua, who has lately been a no-show in Azimio La Umoja's press briefings, disputed the talk of her quitting the opposition political outfit
• She has not been reading from the same script as other Azimio La Umoja co-principals on the Bomas of Kenya talks, whose report was handed to President William Ruto and Raila Odinga
• Despite her reservations about the report, the Narc Kenya party leader dismissed as wrong the reports that she could be on her way out of Azimio

Nairobi - Narc Kenya party leader Martha Karua has refuted assertions that she could be positioning herself for a walk-out from the Azimio La Umoja side.

Karua, who had been a no-show in recent Azimio La Umoja pressers and meetings, had reservations about the final report out of the bi-partisan talks undertaken at the Bomas of Kenya.

The talks were undertaken by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO), co-chaired by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung'wah.

Karua's reservations on NADCO recommendations

The report already had the blessings of President William Ruto and Azimio La Umoja's other co-principals, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo.

Karua, on her part, described the report as "troubling, problematic and unacceptable", sending signals that all was not well within the opposition side.

A section of the media projected her exit from the faction over such issues of trust.

She dismissed a report by a local daily headlined, "Karua walk-out looms as Raila team divides".

The news story asserted that the veteran politician was dissatisfied with how things were panning out in the coalition, tying the gist of the story to supposed betrayal and mistrust, all to her detriment.

Karua dismissed the piece as "wrong".

Despite this, there had been murmurs she could be focusing on formulating a political force in Mt Kenya outside Azimio La Umoja.

In her fold would be embattled Jubilee Party secretary general Jeremiah Kioni.

Karua joined Raila's fold in 2022 in the run-up to the year's presidential election, in which she vied for the presidency second to the former prime minister.

Despite flunking the vote, the former Gichugu MP stuck with Azimio and was present in all its undertakings, including the mass action protests sanctioned between March and July this year.

The protests were shelved as the bi-partisan dialogue team embarked on the talks to address the issues the opposition had leveraged to call its supporters to the streets.

Among the issues the Raila-led team aired included the skyrocketing cost of living, the reconstitution of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), and the audit of the electoral servers.

What is in the NADCO report?

The NADCO report, electronically handed to the president and the opposition leader on November 25, recommended the establishment of four new state offices.

The committee wanted the Office of the Leader of Opposition established.

According to it, the holder of the office would be the leader of the political party that garnered the second-largest number of votes in a presidential election.

The bipartisan team also recommended that the opposition leader should have two deputies.

"The committee recommended the establishment of thes Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition, who is the leader of the largest party/ coalition of political parties that garnered the second-greatest number of votes in the immediately preceding presidential elections with two deputies," the report stated partly.

At the same time, the bipartisan team called for the creation of the Office of Prime Minister, whose officeholders will be appointed by the president.

"It further recommended the establishment of the Office of Prime Minister to be nominated and, upon approval by the National Assembly, appointed by the President," the report added.