Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna has questioned whether the four opposition members nominated in President William Ruto's cabinet will have a considerable impact in their respective dockets. 

In the second batch of CS nominees, President Ruto included John Mbadi (Treasury), Opiyo Wandayi (Energy), Ali Hassan Joho (Mining and Blue Economy) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives) in his cabinet.

Speaking during a panel interview on Daybreak, Sifuna wondered whether the approach would be effective if the CSs chosen in the cabinet were not aligned in terms of ideologies and policies. 

For instance, he probed whether Treasury CS nominee Mbadi was capable of delivering and implementing President Ruto's bottom-up manifesto, an approach that was heavily criticised by the opposition during the campaign trail. 

Sifuna assured the public that the ODM party had not engaged in any discussions of joining the government and that the four nominees would join the cabinet in their individual capacity. He pointed out that the four members did not have the blessings from the party.

"I can assure you Mbadi has no idea what bottom up means because he is a member of ODM. For us, we needed to have a conversation first, to have a document that says these are the priorities areas," Sifuna said. 

"For ODM, the priority areas have never changed. We a re a pro-people party. We are not going there to talk about other things. For instance, the first thing I would do in this government is to roll back all the taxes imposed by this government. Is John Mbadi going to be able to do that without a conversation or a framework?" 

Further, the ODM SG expressed his shock when the president reappointed majority of the former CSs into the new cabinet, wondering whether the four would make a considerable impact in Ruto's remaining tenure. 

" I feel very bad for my chairman John Mbadi because he is a man that I respect. I don't see how he will have an impact in President Ruto's government because he is a minority," Sifuna remarked.

"I was in shock when he reappointed the same people. It is impossible for you as ODM to go and have a conversation with (Interior CS nominee Kithure) Kindiki about reforming the police, accountability for the people who shot innocent protestors in the street. Kindiki and Environment CS nominee Aden Duale are not people you can have a conversation about these things."

Following their nominations, the four opposition members will be required to resign from their respective elective posts and political positions to undertake the cabinet slots.