The ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) is seeking to exploit the political truce between President William Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga to gain political footing in the erstwhile hostile opposition bastions.
The party that failed to secure even a single parliamentary seat in Mr Odinga’s Nyanza bastion in the 2022 elections is already contemplating fielding a candidate in the pending Ugunja constituency by-election.
The seat fell vacant after President Ruto appointed Mr Opiyo Wandayi as Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary.
During president Ruto’s recent tour of the region, ODM appealed to him as the UDA party leader to consider not fielding a candidate in the Ugunja by-election in the spirit of the broad-based cooperation between the two outfits.
“…I also want to add that since we are now under the broad-based government, when the by-elections here in Ugunja come, it should be reserved for ODM,” the party’s Director of Elections said during Mr Wandayi’s thanks giving ceremony graced by the Head of State.
The Suna East MP was alluding to possible zoning to ensure the president’s UDA and other Kenya Kwanza allied parties do not field against Mr Odinga’s party in the area.
UDA officials have indicated that they seek to ride on the broad-based government political wave in making entry to the opposition regions with an eye to the 2027 General Election.
Some top ODM leaders, including acting party leader Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o, who is also the Kisumu County Governor, have publicly embraced the truce amid political feelers that Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga could cobble a coalition ahead of the next poll.
“There is a great desire in the spirit of broad-based government that we consider a candidate from the UDA party. This is timely and in good spirit and we support that. We will consult and seek approval from the party leader,” said UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar.
“We want to ensure that the election is not divisive. UDA will partner with other parties to mobilise our support base in the Nyanza region. This is an inclusive government that we are building to unite Kenyans based on issues,” he said.
President Ruto incorporated top former ODM party officials in his Cabinet by appointing Mr Wandayi, Mr John Mbadi (National Treasury and Economic Planning), Mr Hassan Joho (Mining and Blue Economy) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Cooperatives and MSMEs).
President William Ruto (centre) arrives at Sidindi in Ugunja for Opiyo Wandayi's thanksgiving ceremony in Ugunja Constituency on August 30, 2024.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
President Ruto – who performed dismally in Nyanza in the last presidential election – is also seeking to endear himself to the region by backing Mr Odinga for African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship.
Homa Bay county UDA Secretary General, Silas Jakambika, said that the political rapprochement between President Ruto and Mr Odinga was not Nyanza-focused but a move designed to unite the country and end politics of hostility.
“What is important moving forward is the unity of all the peoples of the Republic of Kenya and both leaders have come together to put Kenya first. Of course, at the regional level back in Nyanza, one of the peripheral effects of this rapprochement is that local leaders and supporters of both formations have to rally behind that unity initiative,” said Mr Jakakimba.
He said that the ruling party has since made substantive footing in the region as a result of previous efforts by the party, including mass grassroots membership drive.
“Our people have learnt to chew the ODM gum and scale the UDA stairs by fully embracing both President Ruto and his administration. All this is primarily premised on the several development projects the President has initiated in the region. The reality that Nyanza mainstays multi-party democracy, is an open secret,” he told Nation.Africa.
Mr Odoyo Owidi, member of Homa Bay County UDA Congress, said the ruling party is closely working with ODM with plans for a possible Ruto-Raila reunion.
“We are ready to rebuild the 2007 coalition that was christened the Pentagon. Right now, our intention is to unite the Lake region behind the president, and we believe we can rely on this support in the near future,” said Mr Owidi.
He said the region’s past attempts to get support from Mt Kenya has always failed as a result of various conspiracies.
“Even the handshake support was just another conspiracy to lock out Ruto, make Raila a ceremonial president through the BBI,” he said.
President Ruto’s past aggressive political forays have not been successful. His party, however, early this year conducted an aggressive popularization drive in some of Mr Odinga’s bastions, including Nyanza, Western, Kisii and Coast.
The party concluded its grassroots elections in Homa Bay and Busia counties in June, boosting its political network in Mr Odinga’s turf ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The elections that started in April attracted huge numbers in the counties that have traditionally backed Mr Odinga in the last successive presidential elections.
President William Ruto with Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga after he commissioned the Oyugis Water Project in Kojwach, Homa Bay County.
Photo credit: PCS
In Homa Bay, a total of 8500 officials were elected in the polling centres, wards, constituencies and at the county-level, according to UDA Secretary-General Cleophas Malala. Hundreds of other officials were also elected in Busia, strengthening the party’s presence in the two counties.
The ruling party now has 20 officials in each of the polling centres spread in the counties. Another set of 20 officials were also elected at the ward, constituency and county levels.
During the polling centre-level elections, a total of 17,301 and 10,019 party members in Homa Bay and Busia, respectively, contested for the party positions.
Seven ODM lawmakers who went against Mr Odinga to work with Dr Ruto before the broad based government also handed him a major boost, with hopes that his new found foot soldiers would help him consolidate support in the region.
Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda, MPs MP Felix Odiwuor Jalang'o (Lang’ata), Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Gideon Ochanda (Bondo) and Elisha Odhiambo (Gem) are some of the ODM politicians, who joined Dr Ruto before the current truce.
But what started as a disagreement within president’s Kenya Kwanza coalition has now roped in political bases of Mr Odinga with Nyanza and Coast regions in particular, taking the president’s battle as their own.
Nyanza and Coast erupted in celebrations when key ODM members were appointed to the cabinet vowing to support the president and his agenda, amid tension in the country caused by Gen Z protests.
President Ruto received a rousing welcome when he toured the Coast immediately after appointing Joho to the Cabinet.
But a bigger embrace awaited the president in Nyanza when he landed for a four-day visit during which he toured all the four counties of Migori, Homa Bay, Siaya and Kisumu.
Enthusiastic crowds turned up at every stop, while leaders who had previously kept away from Ruto’s visits accompanied him everywhere and vowed to support his agenda and stand with him against enemies.
At every function, leaders declared Ruto as a member of ODM and reiterated that the President had once stood with Mr Odinga and they would stand with him to return the favour.
Leaders also cast aspersions on Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and central Kenya for refusing to reciprocate the trust of the people of Nyanza by voting for Mr Odinga while reflecting on how the people of Rift Valley voted for him to a person in 2007.
President William Ruto shakes hand with Suna East MP Junet Mohammed during the commissioning of the Usonga Siriwo Rice Mill. With them is Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga.
Photo credit: PCS
Mr Odinga’s elder brother Dr Oburu Oginga declared that the ODM leader has since embraced president Ruto, adding that they will be ready to pay his 2007 political debt.
“He received a welcome in the Luo nation more than any other time he has been around. This is because Raila has embraced him and I think it is not bad kurudisha mkono (pay a political debt),” Dr Oginga said.
He noted that president Ruto played a major role in 2007 in making Mr Odinga Prime Minister of Kenya.
“He did not just support him by word of mouth but mobilized people in the Rift Valley who voted for him man to man yet we did not give him much in the last election,” Dr Oginga said.
The swift backing for Ruto stems from past failed political relationships between Nyanza and central Kenya dating back to independence.
Leaders who talked at the Ruto events and after recounted the tribulations of Kenya’s first vice president Jaramogi Oginga Odinga under his one-time friend turned foe, the founding president Jomo Kenyatta, the split of Ford following the entry of Kenneth Matiba into the 1992 contest, the failed political marriage between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga following the 2002 election that swept Kanu out of power, the 2007 elections that ended in massive violence and the 2022 loss by Mr Odinga after majority of central Kenya voters stood with Dr Ruto.
In a twist, the decision to work with Ruto has made Nyanza region to view those with links to Azimio leaders including Kalonzo Musyoka with suspicion.
There are concerns that while Ruto has extended an olive branch to Mr Odinga through appointments to the cabinet, some of the ODM leader’s associates insist that he works with Mr Musyoka and Azimio.
