Inside Ruto's Meeting With Sabina Chege, 30 Jubilee MPs At State House

President William Ruto met 30 Members of Parliament (MPs) allied to the former ruling Jubilee Party at State House, barely a day after he met party officials allied to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

The meeting, which comes barely a day before the Azimio La Umoja coalition holds its Parliamentary Group meeting, saw the MPs locked into it alongside Ruto and his Deputy, Rigathi Gachagua.

According to reports, during the morning meeting on Wednesday, February 8, the Jubilee legislators pledged to work with President Ruto's government, breaking ranks with the Azimio coalition.

Those in attendance include MPs Sabina Chege (Nominated), Margaret Kamar, Yusuf Hassan (Kamukunji) and Adan Keynan (Eldas).

"We want to be part of this government having been together before the last elections," pleaded Eldas MP Adan Keynan

"At this rate, we will close down our Jubilee house and join you because we are one," Laikipia North MP Sarah Korere weighed in.

"We don't want to feel left out in your government so we kindly request you to include us in your development plans," stated Nominated MP Sabina Chege.

On his part, President Ruto welcomed the leaders to work with him, expressing the readiness for his government to work with anyone despite their political faction.

"We have no apologies to make for working with anyone," Ruto said.

"The president wants everyone on board and you're welcome to join us," weighed in DP Gachagua.

"We  welcome this reunion knowing that we need every vote in the house whenever we have a matter to vote on," added Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot

His counterpart from the National Assembly Kimani Ichung'wa promised to make the 30 Jubilee MPs part of them and that they will be attending Kenya Kwanza caucuses.

The Head of State has been on a seeming-charm offensive against the opposition if meetings with parties affiliated with the Azimio la Umoja coalition are anything to go by.

It was only hours ago that President Ruto met nine ODM MPs from the Nyanza region, a move which rattled the party to the point of issuing a charged statement criticising them.

These included Shakeel Shabir (Independent - Kisumu Town East), Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Elisha Odhiambo (Gem), Gideon Ochanda (Bondo), Mark Nyamita (Uriri), Tom Ojienda (Kisumu), Paul Abuor (Rongo) and Phelix Odiwuor (Jalang'o), with the meeting unsettling the ODM party which issued a hard-hitting statement.

“We are not rebelling against the party. We never talked about politics, but development; these are two different things and we will continue following our party,” Ochanda stated.

On his part, Jalang'o noted that among the topics discussed in the meeting included the affordable housing project in his constituency as well as priority projects the government should embark on, including the Highrise ward and the completion of the Lang'ata Technical and Vocational and Education Training (TVET) institution.

ODM denounced the MPs who termed the move as a betrayal of the party's ideals at a time its leader announced that he would not recognize the legitimacy of the Ruto-led government.

Jubilee Secretary-General, Jeremiah Kioni last week affirmed that it is still part of the Azimio la Umoja coalition, even though this meeting, coupled with a near-similar one involving Jubilee MPs in late January, threatens a major shake-up in the Azimio coalition.