ODM renews push for Ruto re-election deal, demands deputy president slot

In what appeared to be an attempt to show might that it is still a force to reckon in the Nairobi city politics, the late Raila Odinga's party Saturday took to the historic Jacaranda grounds in an event billed to honour the late party leader.

A defence of its "broad-based" arrangement with President William Ruto and a contest over who carries on the legacy of Raila also dominated.

Unlike Raila’s familiar rallies, when he would emerge from a hotel or his home and join supporters at the venue, the procession began at Uhuru Park shortly before noon.

The caravan descended Haile Selassie Avenue, gathering numbers before snaking along Jogoo Road and Manyanja Road to Jacaranda at about 3pm. The grounds were half full.

Deputy Party Leader Simba Arati and party chairperson Gladys Wanga led the rally that saw the ailing party leader Oburu Odinga address the supporters virtually.

Supporters wore orange ODM T-shirts bearing Raila’s portrait and matching caps. Performances by Wakadinali, Prince Indah and Embarambamba, among others punctuated the speeches. A minute of silence was also observed to honour Raila.

ODM leaders renewed their push for the party to negotiate a formal agreement with President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance ahead of the 2027 General Election, with speakers demanding the deputy president’s position in a possible second-term administration.

It was what the leaders termed as the final day of Raila Odinga Month, but tributes were overtaken by questions about ODM’s place in government and the 2027 succession.

In a recorded message, party leader Oburu Oginga thanked supporters for messages of sympathy following his illness. He described Raila as a natural leader and the defining figure of ODM, urging members to continue fighting for their freedom.

Oburu defended the party’s participation in the broad-based government, saying ODM had entered the arrangement consciously and not blindly.

He described it as a loose arrangement that required negotiations and differed from a conventional coalition. “We are in this broad-based government consciously. Raila did not go there blindly, and we are not there blindly,” he said.

He insisted that the negotiations followed party statutes and warned members against publicly contradicting its policy.

Oburu said ODM and UDA would establish a joint negotiating team, separate from the recently established technical team, to work out the terms of cooperation.

The teams, he said, would be appointed by him and Ruto, cautioning against confusing the 2027 General Election with the political decisions made in 2022, when the current arrangement took shape.

This comes after conflicting views within the party emerged over which formula to use in supporting President Ruto for his two-term bid.

The ODM rally also came weeks after the Edwin Sifuna-led breakaway faction form the Orange party held a major rally at the Jacaranda grounds.

Other leaders made reiterated that ODM wanted a share of power in Ruto's re-election project, and "not merely an invitation to campaign," demanding to deputise the Head of State.

"The deputy president seat will come from ODM," declared the deputy party leader and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir.

He said ODM would field candidates for MCA, senator, MP, governor and woman representative in Nairobi, while seeking the deputy president’s position.

"If you look among us, is there anyone who cannot be a deputy president?" he posed.

Arati said the party would negotiate conditions for working with UDA, rejecting calls for ODM to enter the arrangement without safeguards.

“Some people say we should not put conditions. We are saying that, as ODM, when we work with UDA, we will set conditions,” he said.

“When you look at us here, there is no one who can become deputy president,” he said.

Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho also backed the demand, saying ODM had joined hands with Ruto on conditions. “When Ruto finishes, the President must come from ODM,” he said, signalling the party’s ambition to produce the next head of state.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi echoed the succession message, even as he expressed that sixth President should come from ODM and that preparations would begin next year.

“If you want to show respect to Baba, you must remain in ODM,” he told supporters, saying loyalty to ODM was the way to honour Raila.

The speeches exposed the struggle to control ODM. The Leaders threw salvos at the Senator Edwin Sifuna led Linda Mwananchi Movement, accusing them of abandoning the party.

They repeatedly insisted that ODM remained alive and dominant in Nairobi.

“If ODM is dead as they claim, why are they talking about it?” Suna MP Junet Mohamed asked, dismissing the breakaway group as “traitors” who had opened their own "political kiosk" and urged them to "leave ODM alone."

Wanga told former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to keep away from ODM, accusing him of promoting divisive ethnic politics.

Invoking Raila’s preference for principle over numbers, she said he believed it was better to remain with a few committed people than a large group without shared purpose.

"You are promoting politics of tribalism, and disunity among Kenyans," he told off Gachagua. "This is where Raila's spirit dwells" 

Arati dismissed those he described as people left outside the party, while Mbadi declared Nairobi belonged to ODM. Their insistence that the party was not politically dead countered claims that its cooperation with Ruto had cost it its identity.

Junet also questioned those seeking refuge with Gachagua, whom he described as an impeached leader. Speakers portrayed opposition criticism of ODM’s arrangement with Ruto as opportunistic, urging supporters to back the President’s re-election bid.

Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, however, urged leaders to uphold Raila’s values, particularly speaking for the oppressed.

“Whenever wananchi had problems, leaders had to speak,” Sakaja said, urging politicians to remember that responsibility.

He said Raila had envisioned a Kenya without tribalism and hunger, and warned those advancing ethnic politics in Nairobi that they would not prevail.

Sakaja, and Starehere MP Ronald Karauri dressed in orange, also hinted that they would seek Nairobi gubernatorial seat on an ODM ticket.