By: Bryan Wachira
Raila Odinga has dismissed the label “former Prime Minister,” asserting that since Kenya currently has no other Prime Minister; he remains the country’s Prime Minister to this day.
Although the 2010 Constitution eliminated the role of Prime Minister, Raila’s tenure in that position remains a significant chapter in Kenya’s political history.
Raila stated, “There cannot be a former Prime Minister because there is no current one. Therefore, it is just ‘the Prime Minister’—the second Prime Minister—and it remains like that.”
Raila became Prime Minister in 2008 following Kenya’s disputed 2007 general election. The post-election clashes led to the deaths of nearly 1,000 people and displaced close to 600,000 others.
A peace agreement brokered in February 2008 by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and African Union Chair Jakaya Kikwete helped resolve the political crisis. The agreement was between the late former President Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) and Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
The deal resulted in a grand coalition government and the creation of the Prime Minister position, which Raila officially assumed on April 17, 2008.
Raila further called for the abolishment of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), arguing that Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) should focus solely on their oversight and legislative roles, while bursary distribution should be left to county governments.
