Orange Democratic Movement party leader Raila Odinga has made a passionate call for unity within his increasingly divided party, as infighting threatens to derail the opposition’s fragile alliance with President William Ruto’s administration.
Speaking during the burial of Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were on Friday, Odinga appealed for calm among ODM ranks, urging leaders to refrain from escalating the feud over the broad-based government arrangement. The framework, which has seen several ODM-aligned Cabinet Secretaries serve in Ruto’s government, has drawn criticism from a section of party hardliners who view it as a betrayal of the opposition’s watchdog role.
“We must stop shooting at each other in public. There’s a bigger picture here,” Odinga said before a sombre crowd of mourners gathered at the MP’s rural home. “Our people have suffered for democracy. We will not let that sacrifice go in vain because of petty squabbles. The fight is not over yet,we must be strategic.”
The truce call comes as ODM faces growing internal turbulence over the working relationship between some of its key figures and the Kenya Kwanza government. A faction of the party, largely led by younger legislators and political purists, has taken issue with what they term as “co-option” into the very administration the party vowed to check.
In sharp contrast, Cabinet Secretaries aligned with the Odinga camp—including Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi and Treasury Chief John Mbadi have defended their roles in the broad-based arrangement, describing it as a litmus test for ODM’s readiness to govern in 2027.
“Governance is not about shouting in rallies. It’s about showing capacity. This is our test run,” said one of the CSs Mbadi. “You don’t win elections only with rhetoric, you must show Kenyans you can deliver even within the toughest of arrangements.”
Adding emotional weight to the political overtures was Senator Oburu Odinga, Raila’s elder brother, who delivered a scathing indictment of the state’s historical neglect of Nyanza region.
“We have shed blood. We have buried our sons and daughters. How much more do we need to give?” Oburu posed rhetorically. “It is time the people of Nyanza got their rightful share.not as a favour, but as a right.”
The senator, his voice occasionally breaking with emotion, said the broad-based arrangement should not be viewed with cynicism, arguing that any platform offering the region economic and political dividends should be embraced.
“We are not joining government to beg. We are there because we deserve to be there,” Oburu said. “The blood we have shed must count for something.”
The burial of the late MP, who died under unclear circumstances, also became a platform for renewed calls to investigate unresolved political killings and systemic violence.
ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna accused state agencies of dragging their feet on high-profile cases urging the investigating agency to unmask the person behind the murder of MP Were.
“We want justice. And we want it now,” Sifuna thundered. “Kenya must not be a country where political careers end in caskets. We are tired of burying our own.”
‘’We want justice for the family. Those already arrested are the executioners of the plan, we now want to know the ‘big fish’ behind the death of our brother.’’
Sifuna further warned against a return to the dark days of political assassinations, citing past cases like that of former IEBC ICT manager Chris Msando and vocal politicians who met untimely deaths and the perpatrators go scot-free.
“Why do our brightest always end up in graves while others are given plum jobs?” he asked to murmurs of agreement from the crowd.
‘’Were was killed in an open place, not a forest. On a highway in full glare of CCTv cameras. These people did it because they think they can get away with it.’’
Odinga, in his address, echoed the call for justice, saying no true democracy can flourish under the shadow of fear and violence.
“We must say no to blood politics. We must say no to assassinations as tools of political contest,” he said. “Kenya belongs to all of us. Nobody should die because they dared to dream of a better nation.”
Cracks in the Orange House
Despite Odinga’s rallying cry, insiders acknowledge that the party is under strain. The alliance with Ruto’s administration brokered after the controversial bipartisan talks,was initially welcomed as a pragmatic move. But it has since exposed deep ideological and strategic rifts.
Younger MPs such as Babu Owino and Sifuna have openly criticized the rapprochement, suggesting it is a sell-out that undermines ODM’s role as the country’s watchdog.
“Our voters didn’t elect us to sit in boardrooms sipping tea with the very people we promised to challenge,” Owino said earlier this week on a local talk show. “We need to be clear, are we the opposition, or are we in government?”
‘’I do not recognize this animal called broad based government. Raila has maintain his stance that the party is not in government. He only donated the experts to stabilize the country,’’ Sifuna.
In response, elder ODM loyalists have urged restraint and political maturity.
“You cannot win a war by burning your own house,” said Mbadi“This arrangement gives us leverage. Let’s not throw it away for short-term applause.”
With the 2027 general election creeping onto the horizon, much of the tension within ODM seems to revolve around positioning. Political analysts argue that the broad-based arrangement could either be a masterstroke or a miscalculation, depending on how it is managed.
“Raila’s overtures to Ruto might provide stability now, but they risk fracturing ODM’s core support base,” Herman Manyora, a political scientist based in Nairobi. “If the party doesn’t doesn’t manage internal dissent quickly, they may enter 2027 weaker than ever.”
