Raila’s ‘Dying Wish’: ODM Must Remain United

BONDO, Siaya County, Oct 19 — Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga has called for unity within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), saying it was her late brother Raila Odinga’s dying wish that the party remain “united and strong.”

Speaking during the funeral service in Bondo, she said the former Prime Minister had appealed shortly before his death.

“Raila told me the day before he died that ODM must be united and strong,” she said. “We cannot have another ODM led by a few people and another faction on the other side who think they own the party. We are going to go to any negotiation with a strong, united one ODM.”

ODM enjoys a working relationship with President William Ruto under a broad-based government that led to the appointment of opposition leaders to the cabinet.

The arrangement did not, however, go down well with some ODM members, including Secretary General Edwin Sifuna and Siaya Governor James Orengo who openly criticised it.

With Odinga now gone, a rift is threatening to emerge within the party, despite the appointment of Dr Oburu Oginga as the interim party leader.

Raila’s death could intensify the succession debate as ODM navigates the path to the 2027 General Election—seen by many as the party’s most significant test of unity. The veteran opposition leader, 80, died of cardiac arrest while receiving treatment in Kochi, India.

His passing leaves ODM at a crossroads: preserving his legacy while redefining its future in a shifting political landscape.