How Winnie Odinga can redefine ODM's future as a party

Winnie Odinga’s electrifying speech at ODM@20 anniversary in Mombasa marked a turning point in the party’s future, its identity, and its internal power structure.

In a moment loaded with grief, defiance and ideological clarity, she stepped out not just as Raila Odinga’s daughter — but as the renewed conscience of the ODM movement.

Her opening line, thanking Kenyans for mourning with her family, was emotional but purposeful. She used pain as political clarity, reminding supporters that ODM was “born in protest and raised in resistance,” a direct rebuke to those trying to drag the party into a transactional, broad-based government arrangement.

Winnie anchored ODM back to its roots — struggle, sacrifice, conviction — warning that the party’s future must not be reshaped behind closed doors.

Her message hit hardest when she declared “ODM is not for sale, ODM was not born in a bedroom, and its future will not be discussed as pillow talk.” This was not just rhetoric — it was a bombshell. It exposed the manoeuvres of leaders openly flirting with President Ruto’s second-term agenda while pretending to remain loyal to ODM.

By calling out these shadow deals, Winnie drew a sharp ideological line. ODM must choose loyalty to its mission, not loyalty to power. She went further, defending ODM’s often messy, confrontational style, saying,“Nation-building is untidy, inconvenient, uncomfortable — but what we are doing here is nation-building.”

With that one statement, she redefined ODM’s rough edges as a necessary cost of fighting for Kenya’s democracy. It was a reminder that the party’s identity comes from agitation, not appeasement.

But perhaps her most strategic moment was when she anchored ODM’s future in the youth, claiming “The young people of ODM have conviction.” This was not a slogan — it was a signal of generational transition, a declaration that the new ideological centre of ODM will be youth-led, bold, and uncompromising. Taken together, Winnie’s speech was not simply a commemoration; it was a manifesto. And if her philosophy takes root, ODM’s trajectory becomes very clear. The party will inevitably abandon the broad-based government experiment and realign with a united, aggressive opposition and that shift will have consequences.

The likes of Hassan Joho, Junet Mohammed, Opiyo Wandayi, John Mbadi, and others who are already warming up to Ruto’s second-term bid will find themselves politically stranded. Their proximity to state power may serve them today, but in the ODM that Winnie is shaping — an ODM rooted in resistance, integrity, and grassroots conviction — they will become political orphans.

Winnie Odinga’s ODM@20 speech was the clearest declaration yet that ODM is entering a new era — an era that confronts power, rejects betrayal, and reclaims its original soul. If this philosophy fully materialises, ODM will not only return to its rightful place in the opposition but will also reinvent itself as the heartbeat of Kenya’s democratic resistance.

In Mombasa, Winnie did not just speak, she lit a fire — and the consequences will reshape ODM for years to come.

-The writer is from Wajir county.