Political analyst Dennis Anyoka now says that ODM party leader Raila Odinga can do a good job in keeping the government on check if given a chance and reason to.
Initially serving in that capacity, Raila has been silent on how the nation is being governed, and has even supporting the government lately, after his truce with President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018.
The job has therefore been left to his troops in the parliament, led by National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi, and his opposition colleagues, whom the analyst says cannot match the former Prime Minister.
Speaking on Monday, he said that Raila has distinguished himself as the best person for the position, and can do a good job if motivated.
"It would be better if Raila was paid the opposition leader salary because he works better than MPs. Initialy, he alerted us about almost all the scandals (Afadhali Raila angelipwa mshahara ya upinzani maana anajua kufanya kazi kuliko wabunge. Mbeleni alikuwa anatueleza scandal kariby zote)," he said on Radio Maisha's Bunge La Maisha Show.
The commentator observed that things have not been going on right since Raila took over as the African Union Infrastructure Development envoy, and his input is badly needed.
"Since his exit we cannot predict how things will be (Tangu aondoke sasa hatujui mambo itakuwa vipi)," he added.
However, Raila's allies have repeatedly claimed that they remain in the opposition and will not shy away from criticizing the government when they feel it is going wrong.