Raila men: Mbadi, Wandayi defend Ruto's plan

Opposition leader Raila Odinga's men yesterday turned out to be President William Ruto's defenders as they hastily swallowed their criticism of the government and its policies in a bid secure their cabinet positions.

ODM's Secretary of Political Affairs who serves the opposition's Azimio La Umoja Coalition Alliance as its Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi elaborated his grand scheme to redeem the energy sector whose policies had driven Kenyans to the streets to protest high fuel prices.

He was following a path beaten by his party chairman, John Mbadi, who had earlier pulled all stops to sanitise the government's economic policies swearing to uphold the bottom-up economic transformation agenda which he has been bashing for the last three years.

Mbadi, the designated Treasury Cabinet Secretary, who was confronted by the slur he had made against some of the Cabinet Secretaries, referring them as skunks saying at the time, he was discharging duties as an opposition leader.

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Deploying their eloquence and charm and a dose of familiarity with the panelists who were their colleagues, Mbadi and Wandayi sidestepped landmines that would have felled political neophytes.

They deflated fireworks which would have been expected of an opposition leader being interviewed by a government leader one has spent years criticising, demonstrating how easily they had transitioned from being critical opposition leaders to cabinet ministers bound by collective responsibility.     

When put to task to explain how he would implement the bottom-up economic plan given his previous objections, Mbadi said: "There is no difference in the concepts of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Both parties believe in social democracy. What UDA talked about is the same with what is in our manifesto... UDA talks about agriculture for value-addition and ODM talks about agriculture for manufacturing. It is all semantics."

Poor communication

On the withdrawn Finance Bill, 2024, he blamed its opposition for poor communication.

"One thing I would advice the government, if approved, is that we must improve on our communication... Treasury is going to be the best at communication. I am not Gen Z, but my ministry will adopt modern methods of communication."

Wandayi laid out his plan to ensure lower energy costs, vowing to crush cartels and manage wastage driving the stated prices higher.

A long-time critic of President Ruto, Wandayi was also tasked to explain how he would work in an administration he previously opposed.

The Ugunja lawmaker, who faced the National Assembly's Committee on Appointment yesterday evening, proposed radical reforms in purchasing energy, faulting "lopsided" agreements that had seen Kenyans disenfranchised.

He trained his guns on expensive power-purchasing agreements between the government and Independent Power Producers (IPPs), terming it a problem he would tackle "head-on".

"We have an animal we call take-or-pay. The agreements with the IPPs dictate that we either take or pay for whatever they generate," Wandayi said of an arrangement he termed "unsustainable", proposing energy auctions to help bring the costs down.

Affordable power

Similarly, he touted cheap clean energy sources as the best method of making power more affordable. Wandayi, worth Sh530 million, would announce a radical plan to ensure the utilisation of geothermal sources.

"Licenses have been given to private entities, as geothermal concessions, who do not use them, reserving them for speculation and starving the Kenya Electricity Generating Company of power... I will be engaging with the Attorney-General about the licenses that remain idle," said Wandayi, who also championed nuclear energy as a viable alternative to thermal energy sources.

He committed to fast-track the modernisation of the power transmission infrastructure to enhance Kenya's transmission capabilities, an issue that has been blamed for frequent nationwide outages.

Wandayi also said he would boost efficiencies in the fuel industry to reduce fuel costs, a thorn in the flesh of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.

He also faced questions over the opposition's entry into Ruto's administration, amid claims of betrayal by Raila Odinga's ODM.

Wandayi defended his previous opposition to unpopular government policies, arguing that he only exercised his constitutional mandate.

"It must be understood that Parliament, the majority and minority, has an overall role to oversight the Executive," said Wandayi, who added that his convictions, against corruption and poor governance, remained unchanged.

Act of betrayal

Kathiani MP Robert Mbui, whose Wiper party has announced it would oppose the onboarding of opposition politicians into the Executive, questioned whether Wandayi viewed his entry into Cabinet as an act of betrayal.

"What would you tell Kenyans who believe that you took advantage of young Kenyans demonstrating, some of whom lost their lives, to negotiate your entry into the government?" posed the Deputy Minority Leader.

Wandayi said that the protesting Generation Zs had raised pertinent issues that his Azimio coalition has raised since 2022, issues that he intended to solve as Cabinet Secretary.

"I never applied to join the government. I was pleasantly surprised and felt greatly honoured to have my name announced," responded Wandayi.

The third-term MP has also been vocal about the government-to-government oil deal, which falls in his prospective docket. Wandayi said he would assess the impacts of the deal that expires next year.

He also fielded questions on the Last Mile Rural Electrification Programme and committed to enhancing the capacity of the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (Rerec) for efficiency.

"Kenya Power is competing with Rerec on rural electrification... If appointed, I will reduce the overlap of functions of the two entities," said Wandayi, adding he would explore off-grid options to ensure optimum connectivity.

Concerning Kenya Power's monopoly, the nominee made the case for the distributor to remain robust owing to its elaborate infrastructure, even as he pointed out that the law allowed other distributors to come on board.

Wandayi also addressed the Tullow Oil controversy, saying he would explore engagements with a strategic partner to aid in oil exploration in Turkana.