NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 11 — The ‘Linda Mwananchi’ ODM faction has accused the government of attempting to dilute constitutional freedoms and conceal human rights failures through what it described as a misleading report on the implementation of a political cooperation pact with President William Ruto’s administration.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna on Wednesday dismissed a report presented earlier at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) reviewing the UDA–ODM 10-point agenda, calling it a “charade” designed to mislead the public about the state of reforms.
“The report is a charade meant to hoodwink the public into believing that the memorandum of understanding has been implemented, when it is obvious to all Kenyans that nothing could be further from the truth,” Sifuna said, referring to the memorandum of understanding signed between President Ruto and the late former prime minister Raila Odinga.
Members of the Linda Mwananchi faction said their alternative report focused heavily on issues of police accountability, protest rights, and alleged abuses during demonstrations, which they argue remain unresolved despite commitments made under the political pact.
Justice denied
Suba South Member of Parliament Caroli Omondi, presenting the group’s findings, said Kenyans have yet to see meaningful justice for victims of police brutality during protests that have rocked the country in recent years.
“Compensation for victims of police brutality during demonstrations has not been done,” Omondi said.
“We are told there will be two billion shillings in a supplementary budget. But who determined the number of victims? Who determined the value of their injuries? Where is justice and accountability?”
Omondi warned that proposals discussed during the political process risk being used to introduce new legal restrictions on demonstrations, a move he said would be inconsistent with constitutional protections for assembly and freedom of expression.
“The Constitution already guarantees the right to demonstrate,” he said.
“When we hear talk about a new law to ‘protect victims of demonstrations,’ we fear it is a euphemism for regulating or limiting protests.”
The dispute follows a joint parliamentary group meeting between the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and sections of ODM, where President William Ruto defended the cooperation framework and the progress report on the 10-point agenda.
Ruto rebuked critics whom he said had “appointed themselves supervisors” of the pact, insisting that the commitments were made to Kenyan citizens rather than to individual politicians.