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Oburu:Azimio is moribund without ODM
ODM Deputy Party Leader and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir, Party Leader Oburu Oginga and Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo after meeting delegates in Mombasa on November 1, 2025.
ODM Party Leader Oburu Oginga has cracked the whip on the party’s rebels as he slammed former President Uhuru Kenyatta for reviving the ‘moribund’ Azimio coalition.
Mr Oginga rejected leadership changes orchestrated by former President Uhuru Kenyatta where they picked Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka as a party leader, saying the coalition was dead when ODM left it.
“There is nobody who can make a decision in Azimio without the concurrence of ODM. You cannot purport to appoint a new leader of Azimio, excluding ODM. We left it a long time ago, and it is only a formality which we have not performed and which we are going to perform very soon,” he said on Wednesday.
He added: “We were not involved, yet ODM was the dominant party in the coalition and cannot be sidelined in decision-making, and any attempt to appoint a new Azimio leader without the involvement and approval of ODM would be invalid.”
The controversy stems from a recent announcement by the Uhuru-led faction, which sought to reorganise the coalition's hierarchy and by slamming President Uhuru's unilateral decisions, Mr Oginga is effectively checkmating Mr Kalonzo's ascent, insisting that ODM will not play second fiddle in an alliance it anchors.
Speaking in Mombasa during the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Wednesday, the ODM chief read the riot act to a faction of ODM members who have been agitating for his removal.
During the NEC meeting at Pride Inn Shanzu, ODM Nairobi Senator and ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna missed the central committee meeting, fuelling talks of deep splits within the party.
Mr Oginga had called the session to address leadership issues amid ongoing discussions about ODM-UDA alliance talks ahead of the 2027 elections.
During the conference, the party leader promised to do his best to promote ODM party from its current situation to a stronger party.
“ODM Party leader Raila Odinga left us on a ground called broad-based government, and in this, we have our partners who are UDA, and we are continuing to fulfil arrangements that brought us together.
"Among the issues we want to address is the 10-point agenda, which we must follow meticulously to ensure they are implemented to the end,” said Mr Oginga.
Move it alone
The ODM leader confirmed that the party organ has not agreed on either to say one term or two terms and the central committee is not in a hurry to say, but to strengthen the party.
“We are in discussion with other parties on the formation of coalitions if there is no agreement, we shall move it alone as ODM,” said the ODM chief.
However, he complained of ODM NEC members who have not been utilising it to solve issues as the party structure dictates.
“Even though some members are not very happy when we pass resolutions here, some of the members of the central committee who are central committee members and policy makers of this party go out say out about what we did not agreed. It is not right as a party leader to go and say what was not agreed,” said Mr Oginga.
He added, “This party is like a club and you must obey the club rules; you cannot be a member if you contradict the decisions of the club. Democracy does not mean chaos; democracy must have some discipline. In a democracy, there is a majority and a minority, and the minority decision is respected, whereas that of the majority is adopted.”
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