CAPTION: ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga and former long-time Gichugu Member of Parliament Martha Karua Four days ago, NARC Kenya party leader Martha Karua lashed out at ODM party leader Raila Odinga over his remarks on the role of the opposition following Raila's bizarre claim that his party is both in the opposition and in the government.
During his press briefing on Thursday, Raila said ODM was part of the government despite the fact that it is part of the minority brigade that forms the opposition.
But Karua took to social media to register her displeasure, saying the opposition has become the mouthpiece of the executive.
https://twitter.com/dailynation/status/1293975606754004993?s=20 "Deliberate confusion! The constitution provides for majority party (party in government ) and minority party (opposition ) at the national level and in each county. Pretending to be both whether at the National or county level is not only untenable but unconstitutional," she said. "We are talking of the total lack of oversight and the fact that the minority party leadership and members have become the mouthpiece of the executive," she added.
In what now seems like an indirect retaliation, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Director of Communications Philip Etale on Tuesday afternoon launched scathing attacks on the former presidential candidate, pointing out how she always had a grudge against Raila and always wanted to get her way over him.
Through a series of tweets on Tuesday afternoon, Etale recounted one incident where Karua and Baba almost engaged in a fistfight at parliament buildings.
Fortunately, Raila maintained his cool and silently walked out of the chambers. In his other tweet, Etale reminded Karua of her involvement in the malpractices surrounding the controversial 2007 elections in which Raila unfairly lost.
According to Etale, who has built a reputation as one of the topmost allies of the former Prime Minister, Karua was used to ensure Raila's convoy to the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC) was stopped in order to award those tampering with election results enough time to do their thing.
Etale, who was then a journalist at Citizen TV, remembers Martha Karua yelling at Raila like a kid. In 2008, after the hotly contested 2007 controversial general elections, which saw the then Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) chairman, the late Samuel Kivuitu, declare Kibaki president, Karua was Kibaki’s election agent at KICC.
She has severally faced backlash for supporting Kibaki as some people alleged that Karma came back to haunt in 2017 Kirinyaga gubernatorial elections.
Many opined that just as she stood for Kibaki in a rigged election and 10 years later, she was rigged out in favour of Anne Waiguru.