A major succession battle has gripped Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) over his planned exit from party leadership to focus on his African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship campaigns.
The party’s Central Management Committee (CMC), one of the party’s top decision-making organs, is scheduled to sit in Nairobi today to deliberate on the delicate matter that is threatening to tear the party apart.
This comes amid divisions in the party as it struggles to settle in the broad-based government under President William Ruto .
Mr Odinga’s impending exit from the party helm has since intensified internal competition among top party figures, each positioning themselves to assume leadership, leading to vicious rifts within the party.
Kakamega County Governor Fernandes Barasa (center) briefs the media after a meeting of ODM branch chairpersons at Convent International Hotel in Nairobi on September 10, 2024.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
A meeting of the ODM party’s 47 county branch chairmen in Nairobi on Tuesday, September 10, was forced to drop Mr Odinga’s succession from the agenda over fierce divisions.
While defending the decision to avoid succession agenda, Kakamega ODM branch chairman who is also the area Governor Fernandes Barasa said that it would have been inappropriate for them in their capacity as county chairs to address such issues when there are organs that are mandated to deal with such matters.
This further lifted the lid on the agenda in today’s (Wednesday’s) planned CMC meeting to be chaired by Mr Odinga.
“We have resolved that since Baba is still the party leader, a conversation around his succession is premature because we have structures of dealing with the appointments of an acting party leader,” Mr Barasa said.
ODM Director of Communication Philip Etale said the main agenda of Wednesday’s CMC meeting is “party elections and the upcoming National Delegates Conference (NDC).”
Mr Barasa said that they had since been informed that the NDC is likely to happen next Month (October) “to decide the next person to be handed over the ODM leadership mantle.”
ODM National Treasurer Timothy Bosire told Nation that the party does not lack capable leaders to steer it in Mr Odinga’s absence.
“Our leadership structures as a party are strong, comprehensive, and self-regulating that in the absence of Raila, all will be well,” Mr Bosire said.
While some top party honchos have favoured a caretaker summit or committee to take charge of the party as Mr Odinga exits, individual names have also been touted.
Those in the line for succession include; pioneer ODM Secretary General Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o who is also the Kisumu Governor, his colleague Governors James Orengo (Siaya), Gladys Wanga (Homa Bay), Simba Arati (Kisii) and party’s Secretary General Edwin Sifuna who is the Nairobi Senator.
An insider in Mr Odinga’s camp told Nation on Tuesday that the veteran ODM Chief is expected to formally quit as party leader next month (October) to focus on the AUC campaigns.
“The Central Management Committee of ODM meets tomorrow (today-Wednesday) and there is expectation that Raila will appoint a replacement ahead of his formal exit next month,” the source revealed.
Nation had last week exclusively reported on Mr Odinga’s planned exit but Mr Sifuna issued a statement dismissing the report as “disinformation,” raising concerns about his knowledge of internal party affairs.
Mr Sifuna had also in July distanced the party from claims that its members were planning to join the government, and said those who wished to join the Kenya Kwanza administration would do so “without the party’s blessings”, only for Mr Odinga to declare later that his members named to the cabinet had his blessings and those of the party.
The high-profile ODM leaders who would later be named to the broad-based cabinet are former deputy party leaders Hassan Joho and Wycliffe Oparanya, former ODM National Chairman John Mbadi and ex-Secretary of Political Affairs Opiyo Wandayi, as well as former member of the party's elections board Ms Beatrice Askul.
As the succession debate hots up, on Tuesday, Nairobi County ODM Chairman George Aladwa, the Makadara MP, revealed that the branch unequivocally backs Mr Orengo to steer the party in Mr Odinga’s absence.
“Our decision remains the same. This is the national chairpersons meeting which has decided not to discuss the matter now but we have made the decision as the county that Governor Orengo should be appointed to steer the party,” Mr Aladwa said.
“There are, however, concerns over his (Orengo’s) inconsistency and erratic character. In the run-up to the formation of the broad-based government, Orengo was in overdrive trying to scuttle the deal only for him to make a sudden about turn and embrace President Ruto,” a top party insider told Nation .
He noted that; “There are worries about his capacity to hold the party together in the absence of Raila.”
It also emerged that a section of women leaders has rallied behind ODM National Chairperson Gladys Wanga while others feel the party will be stable in the hands of Prof Nyong’o who held fort in the past when Mr Odinga was in the USA after the 2013 election.
“People worry about Orengo's dalliance with Kalonzo and Gachagua. Rosa Buyu confronted him over his dalliance with the Kalonzo group and defiance of Raila. That was two weeks ago,” another source revealed yesterday, even as some branch chairs from Rift Valley also backed him.
Nation has established that still, there is still a group pushing for the formation of a “summit or council of sorts to manage the party in Raila’s absence and not an individual.”
Those pushing for an individual to hold the seat on an interim basis fear that should Mr Odinga be upset at the AU elections, he should have a fallback plan back to the party.
“That is why the person to take over should not be one who is not trusted. Not an individual who can run away with the party,” a senior official said.
Another insider, however, blamed CMC, over allegations of being dysfunctional.
“The Central Management Committee has itself become dysfunctional as non-members are being allowed to attend. In the run-up to the broad-based government, the Committee took decisions that got subjected to lower party organs and its decisions paired with those of ad hoc teams.”
The 47 county chairmen meeting on Tuesday resolved to back Mr Odinga’s bid for the AUC post as well as the broad-based government.
“We want the country to unite and we are lauding President Ruto for appointing our ODM members to serve in his government. We wish them well as they continue with the journey as Cabinet Secretaries,” said Mr Aladwa.
The meeting also resolved to mobilise party members at the grassroots level to support the broad-based government.
Mr Odinga has held the leadership of the ODM party since its inception in 2005 and subsequent registration as a political party in 2007.
The party emerged from the "Orange" faction of the 2005 referendum campaign in Kenya, which successfully opposed the proposed new constitution at the time.
The name "Orange" was derived from the symbol used by the "No" campaign in the referendum, which was an orange and it officially became a political party ahead of the 2007 General Elections.
Mr Odinga recently signalled his exit from local politics after he declared that he was moving from Kenyan to African continental politics in his quest for the AUC post.
He said he would not be very active in Kenyan politics henceforth as he focuses his attention on the continental campaign.
"I'm not going to be very active in Kenyan politics henceforth as I continue to focus my attention on the continental campaign. But it’s a transitional phase from active participation in Kenyan politics to moving towards African continental politics," he said.
In April, the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) explored the possibility of incorporating two critical organs into its party constitution, a move that was seen as an attempt by Mr Odinga to protect his party from possible ‘perversion,’ as he set his sights on the AUC.
The NEC meeting that was chaired by Mr Odinga reportedly resolved to entrench the Board of Trustees and Council of Elders into its constitution in a bid to ring-fence it from ‘mismanagement’ that could lead to its extinction.
Initially, ODM had three trustees but during the April NEC meeting, two additional names were proposed.
“These bodies were proposed and were to be given a permanent and significant role within the organizational framework of the party. They were supposed to have specific powers and responsibilities that are constitutionally recognized, ensuring their influence and authority in the management of the party affairs,” a senior party official and NEC member revealed.
The five-member Board of Trustees in the party include Mr Odinga’s elder brother, who is also the Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga, ODM National Treasurer Timothy Bosire, former Attorney General and ex-Busia Senator Amos Wako, ODM Deputy Secretary General Agnes Zani and the party’s Director of Finance and Administration Mr Joshua Kawino.
