Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro and some ODM politicians have found themselves under immense pressure to take sides between the broad-based government and the opposition ahead of next year’s polls.
With barely 13 months to the 2027 General Election, some of the politicians are being accused of adopting the middle ground in the ongoing realignments, in what critics say is an attempt to avoid being associated with either camp.
Some are perceived to have opted for fence-sitting on politically sensitive matters that have the potential of either subjecting them to public backlash or making them lose favour with President William Ruto’s administration.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro during an interview outside the National Assembly on June 11, 2026.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
With the majority of politicians already identified as either one-term, for those against President Ruto’s re-election, or two-term, for those in support of another five years for him in office, some politicians have opted not to express their political views publicly, at least for now.
Others have been skipping political events as well as avoiding taking votes on crucial bills – like the Finance Bill, 2026 – that would earn them a tag of being in either of the two camps.
The 2027 poll has since been framed as a contest between those backing President Ruto’s re-election against those seeking to deny him another term in office. The broad-based government brigade brings together loyalists of President Ruto and politicians allied to Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Oburu Oginga.
Mr Nyoro was on Saturday forced to ask for three to four weeks to make announcement on his 2027 political path. The lawmaker is one of the country’s rising political stars, with his name prominently featuring in popularity surveys as a potential running mate.
But in the last week, he was caught up in a heated public backlash after he skipped the Finance Bill, 2026, vote. Critics accused him of being indecisive, while others labelled him a double agent.
Mr Nyoro has built a reputation as an articulate and policy-driven lawmaker. Elected on President Ruto’s UDA, he has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of the Kenya Kwanza administration, questioning some of its policy decisions, including the sale of 15 per cent of the government stake in Safaricom .
During the Saturday press briefing, he also denied any association with President Ruto. Mr Nyoro fell out with President Ruto and was subsequently removed as the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations committee chairperson.
"It's clear that I left government. But I keep answering this question not because Kenyans ask me, but because politicians keep provoking me to defend it," said the MP.
"The things I've been saying, especially matters to do with the economy, there's no way you can do those things when you're supporting the government. If you were supporting it, you would simply give your views internally," he explained.
In ODM, Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, who is also the party’s national chairperson, last week told political fence-sitters in the outfit to make up their mind about either backing the broad-based government or working with the opposition.
“We cannot be saying that we support President Ruto, but when Linda Mwananchi's team is here, we are the ones welcoming them. We cannot be broad-based in the day, but opposition at night. People have to be clear on their political stance so that we can know how to engage going into the 2027 elections,” said Governor Wanga.
National Assembly Public Accounts Committee member and Rarieda MP Paul Otiende Amollo during a committee session at Bunge Tower, Nairobi, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
ODM vice chairperson and Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, National Assembly Minority Whip and Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo, Kisumu Woman Rep Ruth Odinga, East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Winnie Odinga and Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o are some of the outfit’s politicians accused of being ambiguous about their political stance.
Dr Amollo, Ms Odhiambo and Ruth were all absent on Thursday when the National Assembly took a vote on the Finance Bill, 2026. Ruth told the Nation that she was absent because she was unwell.
National Assembly Minority Whip Millie Odhiambo.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The three lawmakers and Winnie were also among senior party members who skipped the party’s highly publicised political jamboree held in Kisumu on May 31.
Ruth last week dismissed those labelling her as a fence-sitter, stating that she is firmly in ODM to stay.
“We are better off with a stronger party; otherwise, our bargaining power is compromised. I have been accused of sitting on the fence. Given my sitting apparatus, how is it even possible for someone to think of that? I'm not sitting on any fence, and it is not practically possible for that to happen,” Ruth said.
Kisumu County Woman Representative Ruth Odinga during an interview with the Daily Nation in Nairobi on May 22, 2026.
Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation Media Group
She added, “I have also been accused of undermining my brother, ODM Party Leader Dr Oburu Oginga. Who takes authority from her brother only to hawk it elsewhere? He is the party leader; he has my full support, and we all should accord him full support.”
When she attended ODM’s Special Delegates Convention (SDC) on March 27, she appeared to have closed ranks with her uncle, Dr Oginga.
She, however, appeared to have changed her mind since then, opting to skip major party activities, including the three-day retreat in Mombasa by ODM and the Luo Nyanza declaration on May 31.
Winnie Odinga: ODM is my home, I stand for young Kenyans’ hope and resilience
On May 15, during the burial of Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka’s mother, she appeared to align with the Linda Mwananchi camp led by Mr Sifuna. During the event, she took a swipe at politicians allied to the Kenya Kwanza administration – including National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi – for not listening to the plight of the ordinary Kenyans.
Some of them have, however, publicly defended their political stance, insisting that they remain committed members of the party.
“There is nothing like fence-sitting. People have drifted away from the party, with some going left and right. Those of us remaining exactly where the party has been cannot be accused of fence-sitting,” Dr Amollo told the Nation.
The lawmaker argued that no party organ or meeting has discussed the move to form Linda Ground or Linda Mwananchi because ODM has always remained one.
“One of the things about politics is that you have to be careful about the meetings you attend. It turns out I was right because a decision has been taken by the party to abolish the idea of Linda Ground. How can that be sitting on the fence?” he posed.
On the issue of support for or opposition to President Ruto’s re-election, he said he has not taken any position because there is no party meeting that has discussed the same.
Those saying one term or two terms are expressing their personal opinions, which have never been endorsed by any party organ. So taking a position that I will not sing either is not fence sitting but keeping true to the original position that a position will only be taken after negotiations with like-minded parties,” he said.
“When people talk of the fence, where is the fence here? Some of us chose to remain principled, and that things must be discussed in the party and agreed on before they are taken out there, is actually to remain true to the original ODM.”
Ms Millie has also repeatedly denied being on the middle ground in the ongoing political realignments.
She recently told politicians from Luo Nyanza to allow people to make their political choices without being antagonised or labelled as being anti-broad-based government arrangement.
“Supporting a political leader does not mean I have to fight someone else. Just support your candidate without violence…why must a Luo fight a Luo to show support for the president?” she posed.
Prof Nyong’o has also adopted the cautious wait-and-see stance by not aligning with either Dr Oginga or Mr Sifuna-led Linda Mwananchi. The county has kept a low profile since the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. He has avoided attending ODM functions, apart from the May 31 jamboree held in Kisumu.
Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o speaks during the 42nd Edition of Jukwaa la Usalama at Tom Mboya Labour College, Kisumu, on September 18, 2025.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
He remains one of the voices that have been pushing for reconciliation between the warring ODM factions.
“I believe we honour Raila Odinga best, not by invoking his name in every argument, but by remaining faithful to the values he spent a lifetime defending. As well, strong people are not those who speak with one voice on every issue,” said Prof Nyong’o during the Kisumu rally.
He added, “A strong people are those who remain united even when they disagree. We shall support what advances the interests of mwananchi and oppose what undermines them.”
