Kenya Newspapers Review: Cracks Emerge in Ruto, Raila Deal as ODM Leader Pushes for Reforms

On Wednesday, June 4, local newspapers gave prominent coverage to the case of software developer Rose Njeri, who had been arrested and held in custody for creating a website opposing the Finance Bill 2025.

1. Daily Nation

The publication reported that President William Ruto and Raila Odinga are allegedly increasingly drifting apart despite their power-sharing deal meant to ease political tensions.

Three months after signing a 10-point pact on March 7, 2025, their unity is reportedly showing cracks.

Raila has been vocal about unmet commitments, especially around devolution, justice, and civil rights, pushing him to seek public backing.

Publicly, the two leaders still exchange pleasantries, and hostility in opposition zones has cooled.

But behind the scenes, Raila is allegedly pushing uphill battles, calling for compensation for victims of police brutality and demanding more funds for counties, which he says are being shortchanged by the national government.

A major point of conflict is the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund. Raila wants it fully devolved, accusing the government of clinging to a centralised system that undermines counties.

He also wants agencies like the Kenya Urban Roads Authority disbanded, arguing they duplicate roles best handled by devolved units.

Raila has openly criticised Ruto’s affordable housing and market construction plans, insisting those are county functions.

The revival of the provincial administration is another flashpoint. Raila views it as a step back into authoritarian rule, as chiefs regain policing powers stripped away in 2018.

ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna has warned that failure to honour the pact would prompt the party to withdraw support.

Others within the party believe Kenya Kwanza is deliberately frustrating key agenda items to deny ODM political credit.

As tensions simmer, Raila appears determined to challenge the president more openly, even at official events like Madaraka Day.

2. The Standard

According to the paper, President William Ruto’s meeting with Somaliland President Abdirahman Irro has sparked fresh controversy over Kenya’s foreign policy direction and the kind of diplomatic counsel reaching the Head of State.

The unpublicised meeting, held at State House, Nairobi, on the same day Somaliland launched a liaison office in Kenya’s capital, has drawn scrutiny from foreign policy analysts who see it as a potential misstep.

It risks aggravating Nairobi’s delicate relationship with Mogadishu, which has long viewed Somaliland’s quest for independence with hostility.

Unlike typical engagements with foreign leaders, the State House did not release any statement or photographs of the meeting, a noticeable departure from protocol.

Instead, it was Irro’s spokesman, Hussein Aden Igeh, who announced the talks via his official X account, complete with a photo of the two leaders.

The development comes amid an aggressive charm offensive by Somaliland’s new leadership, which is lobbying for recognition and building diplomatic networks across East Africa.

Earlier in the week, President Irro met ODM leader Raila Odinga, whom Hargeisa hailed as a long-time ally and supporter of Somaliland’s self-rule aspirations.

The Ruto–Irro meeting is expected to stir tensions in Mogadishu, where Kenya’s engagement with Somaliland has often been viewed as a betrayal of Somalia’s territorial integrity.

3. Taifa Leo

The Kiswahili paper reported that police in Kisumu have arrested the husband of an M-Pesa shop attendant who was found murdered after mysteriously disappearing.

The decomposed body of Hannah Waithera was discovered dumped in a field at Technology Farm in West Nakuru sub-county, after she went missing while on duty along Kenyatta Avenue in Nakuru City on May 21, 2025. The body is currently preserved at the Nakuru City Mortuary.

According to East Nakuru Sub-county Police Commander Mr Samson Adanje, Hannah’s husband, Zachariah Wanjohi, was arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to assist in probing the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death.

Adanje stated that the suspect was expected to be arraigned in court as police continued to hold him to complete their investigations.

4. The Star

A late-night dispute at a Kirumbi pub in Voi ended with serious consequences after David Gift Mwarashu allegedly struck a bouncer in the eye using a stone launched from a catapult, leaving the man blind in that eye.

The incident occurred on the night of August 20, 2023, and has now led to Mwarashu receiving a nine-year prison sentence following a conviction for grievous harm under Section 234 of the Penal Code.

The High Court in Voi delivered the judgment on May 30, 2025, after Mwarashu appealed the conviction and sentence originally handed down by the Voi Chief Magistrate’s Court.

Mwarashu denied the charges throughout, claiming he was mistaken for someone else and had fallen victim to mob justice.

However, both the lower and appellate courts found the evidence against him overwhelming.

On the night in question, the victim, Jason Mazai Mwakibola, was working as a bouncer at his father’s pub.

Around 9 pm, a waiter alerted him that a patron, later identified as Mwarashu, was trying to leave without paying. Mwakibola approached the man, accompanied by a waitress named Caroline.

Witnesses reported that Mwarashu was lurking in a dark corner of the pub armed with a catapult. Without warning, he aimed and fired a stone directly at Mwakibola’s face.

The stone hit Mwakibola’s right eye with such force that he collapsed instantly.

Caroline immediately called the victim’s father, who rushed him to the hospital. Medical reports confirmed total blindness in the injured eye.

The violent attack shocked bystanders, who chased down Mwarashu in the Rabai area and brought him back to the pub. Community policing officer Ronald Mwandeghu then arrested him and took him to the police station.

During the trial, six witnesses, including the victim and his father, testified, consistently recounting how the assault unfolded.

One witness highlighted how Mwarashu had been loitering around the pub before the confrontation over the unpaid bill.

Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura, copy editor at TUKO.co.ke.

Source: TUKO.co.ke