How Raila's political inheritance is being executed at his gravesite

President Ruto set the tempo when he vowed to ensure ODM is part of government in 2027. Politicians have since been trooping to Kang’o and Opoda to swear allegiance.

The race to inherit the late Raila Odinga’s constituency is on, and it is taking place right at the doyen’s final resting place, the gravesite at Kang’o Ka Jaramogi, where political pilgrims have been camping in a bid to appease his spirit (juogi) and hopefully inherit the Nyanza region as well as the ODM support base.

Right from Raila’s burial preparations and the funeral ceremony, politicians who see themselves as Raila’s apparent political heirs have sought to outdo each other in a bid to inherit his numbers ahead of the 2027 general election.

His grave and, by extension, his Opoda home have been trampled by hordes of well-wishers. All the drama started when President William Ruto announced that the late ODM leader would be given a State funeral and pledged that his memorandum of understanding with Raila would be used to create a perception that their working arrangement was designed to go beyond 2027.

The President used the burial ceremony to announce that he would ensure that ODM would be part of government in 2027.

“What I will not allow, for the respect of Raila Odinga, and I will do my best, may God help me, is to let those who want to take ODM to go and gamble with it in the opposition to succeed. We will either form the next government or be part of the next government. That is what we can and will do,” he said during Raila’s burial on October 19.

Given that government functionaries dominated the funeral, overshadowing the Opposition, figures who did not get time to pledge their loyalty and pay their last respects have been trooping back to Raila’s gravesite to pay their tribute as well as seeking to translate their relationship with Raila into votes.

The pilgrimages have turned into a contest of sorts. The forces superintending the proceedings at Kang’o Ka Jaramogi, such as Raila’s widow Ida Odinga, brother Oburu Odinga and Siaya Governor James Orengo, are unwittingly shaping events that may determine Kenya’s political landscape in 2027.

Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, who also doubles as the ODM chairperson, has initiated Raila memorial services which are equally drawing large crowds of politicians and ordinary members of the public.

Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka’s visit to Bondo this week, where he led a high-profile delegation from the Ukambani region to pay tribute to Raila, quickly turned into a politically charged meeting where he reminded Raila’s family how the government persecuted them during the Azimio protests and how Raila’s rivals, who included Ruto, could use derogatory words against Raila.

“We have been in the trenches with my brother. In 2023, when Kenyans were saying the cost of living was unbearable, Raila and I nearly got killed in Embakasi South. It was like the orders were given that day to us, mainly Raila, because we counted 10 bullets targeting him. Had he not been in an armoured vehicle, we would have buried him in 2023,” said Kalonzo.

In efforts to present himself as a staunch ally of Raila’s, Kalonzo criticised some of the politicians for using abusive words against the ODM leader even as he reiterated that he was a man of faith and sacrifice.

“We are burying a man of God who laid his life for the sake of this nation. This is not a mganga or a mchawi lying here. Nobody should ever use those names again or associate the Oginga Odinga family with those things,” he said.

In what appears to be a political contest between Kalonzo and Ruto to scramble for Raila’s constituency, the President seems to bank on ODM party leadership while Kalonzo seems to bank his hopes on Raila’s family and a section of ODM elites to succeed Raila’s strongholds.

ODM acting party leader Oburu Oginga, Wanga and National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed have affirmed that they were left in the broad-based government and have gone ahead to issue demands that must be met before supporting Ruto’s presidential bid in 2027.

While Kalonzo was in Bondo with a section of ODM leaders led by Orengo and Raila’s family, the Homa Bay governor vowed to continue backing the broad-based government.

“Let us support the broad-based government because that is where Raila left us,” she said.

On his part, Junet said the party would not be swayed from cooperating with the government.

“There are people who say ODM should be in the opposition. Let them be in the opposition and leave us alone,” the Suna East MP said.

At Raila’s home, Orengo, Mama Ida and Raila’s sister Ruth Odinga, also the Kisumu Woman Representative, acknowledged Kalonzo’s long-standing political partnership with the departed leader across multiple election cycles.

“Kalonzo has been a friend of Baba for many, many years. When we see him come here, he is grieving because he has come to mourn his friend,” Ida said.

In a well-choreographed political move, Kalonzo, through the Kamba elders, gifted Orengo a walking stick made from a highly cherished tree from their community as a gesture meant to act as a link between the Kamba region, which had heavily supported Raila, and the Nyanza region, which was his stronghold.

Speaking after receiving the gift, Orengo praised the Wiper Party, saying that for Kenya to thrive, it needed strong parties like Kalonzo’s and ODM that cannot be swallowed by the government.

“For a strong Kenya to come, we need a strong Wiper, but we also need a strong ODM not controlled by anybody in power but by the laws of the land. I join Ruth in saying let’s not kill political parties. Na sisi kama ODM msifanye makosa ya kumezwa. KADU (Kenya African Democratic Union) ilimezwa, PNU (Party of National Unity) ilimezwa, DP (Democratic Party) ilimezwa, Jubilee karibu imezwe,” Orengo said.

Ruth praised Kalonzo’s long-standing partnership with Raila and thanked him for supporting her brother’s presidential bids.

“It takes a warrior to recognize one. Today, I was honoured to welcome the Wiper Party leader Stephen Kalonzo to Opoda Farm as he came to pay his last respects to the late Raila, a man with whom he stood side by side in three different elections,” the Kisumu Woman Representative said.

Analysts, however, believe that the political remarks by different ODM officials could not be strategic at the moment. Many describe them as spontaneous.

Elias Mokua, a communication expert and the Executive Director of Loyola Centre for Media and Communication, says the ODM leaders were still mourning while others had not come to terms with the fact that their leader was no more.

“Internal organs of the ODM party will have to take some time to internalise the departure of Raila and decide the future of the party. At the moment, no one seems to have a clear policy direction of the party,” Dr Mokua said.

Gitile Naituli, a professor of management and leadership at Multimedia University of Kenya, opines that ODM was in a dilemma on how to approach the 2027 general election.

“It is a party still living in the shadow of its founder, unsure how to transition from a movement of resistance to an engine of renewal. It clings to the language of the past, loyalty, and hero worship,” Prof Naituli noted.