Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna during a Linda Mwananchi rally at Navakholo in Kakamega county on August 9, 2026. /EDWIN SIFUNA/X
For
the past few weeks, Kenya's media space has been awash with heavily
choreographed narratives tracking the supposed death of ODM and the betrayal of
Gen Z. The pundits, alongside a section of disgruntled internal party leaders,
have built a sensationalised theatre. In their telling, ODM's decision to
anchor the broad-based government of President William Ruto is painted as
capitulation, an abandonment of the movement's decades-long reform credentials.
A cold, objective look at the political landscape reveals a completely different reality. What we are witnessing is not ODM's leadership betraying the movement, but a calculated, deeply selfish betrayal of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga by a handful of ambitious internal beneficiaries: Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, Governor James Orengo, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino.
Knowing very well the structural vulnerabilities of a post-Raila ODM, that Baba was the absolute centre of gravity for all strategic command, these individuals have chosen to break the table simply because they are no longer the ones calling the shots. Instead of defending the house that built them, they are busy auctioning its vulnerabilities to historical adversaries who marginalised the Luo nation for more than 60 years.
The myth of the dead party
Caroli recently declared ODM dead. Orengo quickly repeated it. Their entire existential crisis hinges on one thing: the replacement of Sifuna as secretary-general. To remedy this imagined tragedy, they are now urging the people of Nyanza to abandon Baba's lifelong vehicle and seek refuge in briefcase political outfits like the Linda Mwananchi movement.
One must pause and ask: how lowly do these leaders rate the collective intelligence of our community?
If they truly believe ODM is dead and that they hold the grassroots mandate, why not prove it? Why not resign from the party, surrender their seats and seek a fresh mandate? We remember history. In 1994, when Raila fell out with the leadership of Ford-Kenya, including the very Orengo who had orchestrated the problems Raila faced, he did not sit inside the house engineering sabotage. He resigned from Ford-Kenya, vacated his Lang'ata seat and ran again on an NDP ticket, winning a resounding mandate. The current rebels lack this spine. They want the benefits of ODM sponsorship while working as mercenaries to destroy it.
For Orengo, this is a repetitive script. In 2002, when the entire region stood united behind a single political direction to liberate Kenya, Orengo chose sabotage. He ran for the presidency on a hopeless Social Democratic Party ticket, an adventure that ended in total humiliation at the ballot box. Because of Baba's extraordinarily big heart, he was later welcomed back, rehabilitated and given a seat at the high table of national leadership. Today, he thinks the community has amnesia. We are saying a definitive no.
Escaping the trap of fruitless opposition
The real reason this axis is shouting from the fringes is that Nyanza has finally broken free from the historic trap of endless, punishing and fruitless opposition.
Let us look at our history honestly. Under Jomo Kenyatta, Nyanza was systematically starved of state resources, despite the role Jaramogi Oginga Odinga played in ensuring Kenyatta led the country as founding president, only to be detained by that same Kenyatta for daring to fight for the landless. Even during the grand coalition era under Kibaki or the handshake era with Uhuru Kenyatta, development in our region was a microscopic fraction of what our people deserved as taxpayers. For decades, the community survived on political crumbs, celebrating nominal appointments while infrastructure decayed, youth remained jobless and economies collapsed.
Through the current broad-based arrangement, things have changed. In Siaya, were it not for national leaders working behind the scenes, led by Cabinet Secretaries John Mbadi (Treasury) and Opiyo Wandayi (Energy) and Interior Principal Secretaries Raymond Omollo, the county would have missed major projects entirely due to local political games. Instead, the grassroots are witnessing massive road infrastructure, security upgrades, technology installations and modern marketplaces.
In Homa Bay, the revival of the pier, the expansion of Tom Mboya University and affordable housing are waking up a dormant economy. Kisumu is transforming with the Miwani Special Economic Zone, the modernisation of the port and expanded clean water networks. In Migori, farmers are feeling the direct impact of sugar sector bailouts, the Muhuru Bay Pier and agricultural subsidies.
These are receipts. Not promises. We are not throwing away these life-changing benefits to massage the fragile egos of politicians who want permanent war with the state.
Short memories and dangerous alliances
The height of political hypocrisy lies in the current attempts by Orengo and his axis to convince the Luo, Luhya, Maasai, coastal and other marginalised communities to trust political configurations led by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua or a puppet under his control.
Have these leaders lost their minds, or have they simply chosen to sell out their people?
Let us recall the record. The political formation originating from Mount Kenya has a very specific track record with the Odinga family and the progressive left. They completely rejected Jaramogi in the 1992 election. They rejected Raila with religious consistency in 1997. In 2002, Raila made Kibaki president only to be shown the door in 2005 after Kibaki reneged on the pre-election agreement on equity and a new constitution. In 2007, they not only rejected Raila but stole his electoral victory, then used excessive executive powers to kill and maim his supporters after Kibaki was illegally sworn in under darkness. They rejected Raila again in 2013. In 2017, they stole his victory a second time, a fact confirmed by former Chief Justice Maraga, who nullified that election. In 2022, the very community rejected him even after Uhuru’s pretence of support, which Babu himself correctly called a long con. And as recently as January last year, their political class was captured on national television celebrating Baba's loss in the African Union Commission chairmanship race.
If anyone still doubts the danger of this unholy alliance, look no further than what Gachagua said in the past. Standing at a church service in Kerugoya, the man, Orengo and Sifuna, want our people to trust publicly urge international tourists and investors to stay away from Kenya. His exact words: our tourists are not safe in our country, there are too many goons, tourists should suspend their visits until next year, investors should keep away. Tourism generates nearly 10 per cent of Kenya's GDP and supports close to two million jobs directly and indirectly across hotels, tour operations, transport, conservation and cultural enterprises.
The Coast, the Maasai Mara, Kilifi, Narok, these are ODM heartlands. Their economies breathe on tourism. Gachagua declared economic war on the very communities our rebel leaders now want to hand political power. Tourism PS Julius Bitok called the remarks irresponsible. Mining CS Hassan Joho and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir have consistently warned coastal residents against exactly this kind of political sabotage dressed as opposition. Yet Orengo and Babu are busy massaging the ego of the very man trying to starve our people of their livelihoods. This is cheering for the collapse of your own household just to settle a personal score.
Orengo, Caroli, Sifuna and Babu want our people to believe that this same axis, currently desperate for survival, suddenly cares about our human rights, our youth, or our economic future. Is this not an outright auction of a community's political capital for personal 2027 survival?
Fulfilling Baba's vision
ODM boss Oburu Oginga and the current party leadership are not acting on personal whims. The historical truth is that Raila himself initiated and engineered this broad-based framework before he passed. Baba understood that the cycle of using our youth as cannon fodder for protests, only to be abandoned in the cold while others negotiated power, had to stop. He chose to take his people into the engine room of the state to guarantee their security, protect their economic rights, and implement ODM's 10-point agenda from within.
The results are undeniable. Look at the recent June 24 Gen Z protest anniversary. Unlike past events characterised by blood and state-sponsored carnage, police exercised unprecedented restraint. Not a single life was lost. Forced abductions have dropped significantly. The victims' compensation process is actively moving forward. This radical shift in state posture did not happen by accident. It is a direct consequence of ODM exerting progressive control from inside the government.
Meanwhile, some of our leaders are wasting precious intellectual energy amplifying the Ol Kalou by-election results as if they were a victory for their ideological stance. The reality remains that the true loser was Jubilee, completely erased from its traditional bedrock. Moreover, a localised concession by UDA can be a strategic lose-to-gain manoeuvre designed to anchor the ultimate prize in 2027. Our leaders' celebration of an internal Mt Kenya dynamic that they clearly do not comprehend reveals a severe lack of ideological grounding.
The Luo community and the broader ODM base are inside this broad-based government to stay. Our people are tired of a legacy defined by perpetual fighting and economic marginalisation. They want development. They want factories. They want their youth protected.
The rebel faction needs to sit down, focus their energies on fulfilling their elective mandates, and leave national strategy to those who understand that leadership is about transforming human lives, not perpetual, ego-driven warfare.
Baba did not build this house for it to be burned down by those it sheltered. It is time to reject the media traps, defend his strategic legacy, and finish what he started.
The writer is based in South Africa
