Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Dr Oburu Oginga is back in the country after a three-week stay in the United Kingdom for medical attention.
He returns to a busy political and party calendar that will place him at the centre of events marking the first anniversary of the death of his younger brother, Raila Odinga.
Dr Oginga returned to the country last Friday, September 25, with the party announcing his return the following day and saying the Siaya Senator was ready to resume his responsibilities.
His return comes at a critical moment for ODM which has lined up a month-long programme to honour Raila, its founding leader, as it navigates a changed political landscape following his death in India on October 15, 2025.
Dubbed “Mwezi wa Baba”, the programme will begin on Friday, October 2, with a nationwide candle-lighting ceremony and include rallies and memorial activities in different parts of the country before culminating in Nairobi on October 31.
Dr Oginga therefore returns to a party preparing for one of its most politically significant periods since Raila's death.
During his absence, ODM has operated under the stewardship of National Chairperson Gladys Wanga, who has led a series of activities, including mobilisation in the Maa community and Nyanza.
His absence was particularly conspicuous during President William Ruto's recent five-day tour of Nyanza, where Ms Wanga and other senior ODM officials accompanied the President and openly backed the broad-based government arrangement.
The tour provided a snapshot of the political direction taken by a section of ODM under Dr Oginga's leadership since Raila's death.
Ms Wanga told President Ruto during the tour that almost the entire ODM leadership in Nyanza was present, with only one senior leader missing — an apparent reference to Dr Oginga, who was then in the UK.
President Ruto used the tour to emphasise his relationship with ODM and his intention to continue working with the party as part of the broad-based government.
“I want to assure you, as the national leader and as a student of the late Raila Odinga, that we will walk together. ODM and UDA are not competitors; they are partners in the broad-based government,” Dr Ruto said in Kisumu.
ODM party leader Dr Oburu Oginga. He is in the United Kingdom for medical attention.
Photo credit: Alex Odhiambo | Nation Media Group
Dr Oginga's return now gives him an opportunity to take charge of the party's affairs as debate over ODM's future intensifies.
ODM has planned activities across several regions, beginning with the October 2 candle-lighting ceremony. The party will hold a major memorial rally in Kakamega on October 9, followed by activities led by the Raila family between October 10 and 15.
The main memorial service is scheduled for Kang'o Ka Jaramogi in Bondo on October 15, exactly one year after Raila's death.
The programme will then move to Garissa on October 17, the Coast on October 18 and 19, Kajiado on October 21 and Turkana between October 23 and 25 before concluding with a major rally in Nairobi on October 31.
The anniversary preparations have, however, also exposed differences over who should lead the commemoration.
Raila's widow, Mama Ida Odinga, has separately established a national steering committee to coordinate family-led celebrations.
The committee, chaired by Prof Adams Oloo and deputised by Rarieda MP Dr Otiende Amollo, brings together representatives from government, political institutions, civil society, academia, the private sector and the Odinga family.
Mama Ida said the celebrations would be about the people who loved Raila and that the family would retain a central role in determining partnerships and activities.
“This celebration does not belong to the committee; it belongs to the people. Baba's people are all welcome,” she said.
The family committee's programme is expected to run from October 10 to 17, overlapping with ODM's own month-long calendar.
The parallel preparations have raised questions over the ownership and character of the anniversary, with ODM and the family organising separate programmes to honour the former Prime Minister.
For Dr Oginga, therefore, the anniversary season will be both commemorative and politically consequential.
Raila's death left ODM facing the difficult task of redefining itself without the politician who had dominated its identity for decades.
Mama Ida Odinga and Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga during Raila Odinga’s funeral in Bondo, Siaya County.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Dr Oginga, Raila's elder brother, took over the leadership of the party amid competing views about its political direction.
The party has since become divided between leaders supporting continued cooperation with President Ruto under the broad-based government and those who have joined the Linda Mwananchi movement and positioned themselves in opposition.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, who previously served as ODM Secretary-General, has emerged as one of the leading figures in the latter camp.
He has since been removed from the position following an internal party dispute and has been endorsed by Linda Mwananchi as its presidential candidate for 2027.
The split has left Dr Oginga with the difficult task of maintaining ODM's cohesion while managing its relationship with the Ruto administration and dealing with leaders pursuing a different political path.
His absence during the Nyanza tour meant Ms Wanga and other party leaders effectively became the face of ODM during the President's visit.
Ms Wanga has since continued to defend the broad-based arrangement, most recently leading ODM leaders in Kisumu in urging residents to support Dr Ruto's re-election.
Dr Oginga, meanwhile, continued to weigh in on major national issues while in the UK.
On September 24, he responded to former President Uhuru Kenyatta's claim that Raila won the 2022 presidential election, arguing that ODM had already chosen to move on after exhausting constitutional avenues to challenge the result.
His intervention demonstrated that his absence from the country did not amount to a withdrawal from political affairs.
The Raila anniversary events will give ODM an opportunity to reconnect with supporters across the country while reminding its base of the ideals associated with its founder.
For Dr Oginga, they will also provide an early test of his ability to keep the party's competing factions within a common political framework.
The ODM leader travelled to the UK earlier this month for medical attention after a brief hospital visit in Nairobi. The party described the trip as a routine medical check-up, while his family later said he was improving and would return after completing his appointments.
Kisumu County Woman Representative Ruth Odinga.
Photo credit: Sila Kiplagat | Nation Media Group
His sister, Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga, had said the family was not rushing his return and wanted doctors to complete their assessments.
That chapter now appears to have ended, with the party announcing his return.
Rather than dwell on the medical break, ODM is signalling that its leader is ready to resume the political work awaiting him.
Beyond the Raila anniversary, Dr Oginga faces the task of consolidating ODM's structures, managing relations with its allies in government and preparing the party for the 2027 General Election.
The October commemorations will provide the first major test of how the party under his leadership balances Raila's legacy with its new political reality.
“For a party that spent decades revolving around Raila's personality and political strategy, Dr Oginga's return comes at a moment when ODM must demonstrate that it can sustain its organisation, message and influence in the absence of its founder,” argues Dismas Mokua.
The calendar ahead, he says, “is therefore not merely about remembering Raila, but also about defining what comes next for the party he built.”
