ODM leader Dr Oburu Oginga and his niece Winnie Odinga.
The ODM @20 celebrations in Mombasa at the weekend may have exposed underlying differences, suspicion, intrigue and scheming that could threaten the party’s existence if not handled with grit.
There was already tension in the air as the delegates made their way to the port city for an event attended by President William Ruto, who was once a member of the party.
However, the conflict escalated on Saturday when Winnie Odinga, daughter of the late party leader Raila Odinga, publicly appeared to question the competence of her uncle, Dr Oburu Oginga, to lead the party.
On Friday, she sensationally alleged that unnamed party leaders were plotting to ‘sell’ the ODM founded by her late father in 2005, which is now led by her uncle.
She questioned whether those managing the ODM–UDA relationship had the same capacity as her late father.
Mombasa Senator Mohamed Faki (left) and businessman Suleiman Shahbal at the ODM@20 anniversary celebrations at Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa on November 15, 2025.
“The broad-based relationship is complicated,” she said. “Those managing it now, are they capable? Because it’s only one Baba Raila Odinga who would manage it.”
She demanded a National Delegates Convention (NDC) to give members the power to decide who should steer the relationship, a move that would possibly put Dr Oginga on the chopping block after confirmation as the ODM leader by the National Governing Council on Thursday, October 13.
“That’s why we want an NDC to decide on the people they’d want to manage it.” Her remarks resonated with some party loyalists who fear that ODM is losing leverage under the broad-based arrangement.
Her argument was simple: that ODM’s relationship with the broad-based government was complex, delicate, and historically managed only by her late father Odinga himself. Those currently tasked with maintaining it, she implied, were either unserious or incapable.
“Because it’s only one Baba Raila Odinga who would manage it,” she insisted.
She argued that ODM was a party of values and ideologies, and that its future should not be decided in “boardrooms or through pillow talk”.
While Odinga’s side of the family has dominated politics and party affairs since the inception of ODM and its precursors, such as LDP and NDP, we gathered that there is fear in the former prime minister’s household that they will now be overshadowed by Dr Oginga’s side in the new power matrix.
To remedy this, some family members are said to have favoured the appointment of an outsider as party leader, but things happened so fast — Dr Oginga was designated interim party leader before his brother could be buried.
ODM Party Leader Oburu Oginga, Deputy Party leaders, Simba Arati and Godfrey Osotsi during the ODM@20 anniversary at Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa on November 15, 2025.
On Sunday, an Odinga family source told the Nation that Winnie’s tone and timing were shaped by an internal dispute that had been brewing for weeks.
According to this source, the first open sign of this tension emerged when Winnie failed to participate in the ceremony that appointed her brother Raila Junior as the Raila family spokesperson, a symbolic role intended to unify the family’s voice.
Sharpest critique
Her absence did not go unnoticed. “It was not accidental. It was deliberate,” the family insider said.
This fracture would later manifest at the Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa during the main ODM 20th anniversary celebrations on Saturday.
At the heart of the tension lies the question of ODM’s position in President Ruto’s broad-based government, a political arrangement the late Odinga embraced before his demise in India on October 15.
While Dr Oginga insists that this was Odinga’s last directive to the party, Winnie and her allies view the arrangement with suspicion and believe it is being mishandled by people who “cannot manage what only Baba could”.
During the Mombasa meeting, Winnie did not mince her words and delivered the sharpest critique yet of the party’s current leadership and direction under her uncle Dr Oginga.
“She cast aspersions on the capacity of Dr Oginga and the party’s officials to lead the party and navigate it through the broad-based framework,” a party official told the Nation.
Her remarks electrified a section of the crowd — but they also infuriated some party officials who saw them as disrespectful to the party leader and the team currently in office.
Dr Oginga, now the ODM Party Leader, responded with the calm authority that close allies and family members say has defined his decades in politics. He reminded the audience not only of his role in founding the party but also of the bond and respect he shared with his late brother.
From left: ODM Deputy Part leaders, Simba Arati, Godfrey Osotsi, Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna and Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi during the ODM@20 anniversary at Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa on November 15, 2025.
“I’m here as a founder member of the ODM party,” he said.
“I stood with Raila Odinga for the 80 years he lived with us. I never betrayed Raila. I was older than Raila, but we grew up as twins. We worked together and I respected him politically — but at home in the Jaramogi family, I was his chairman.”
Dr Oginga was referring to his position as the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga family spokesperson, a post he explained his late brother respected, even as he recognised him as the family’s political leader.
Turning to his niece Winnie, Dr Oginga appeared not to have been ready for a confrontation, instead choosing to handle her concerns privately at a family level.
“Winnie said that we look for somebody to mediate between us and the broad-based government. We shall discuss that back at home as a family.”
Dr Oginga then shifted from family dynamics to party strategy, urging ODM to rebuild and expand.
“Let us boost our numbers through registration. Politics is about numbers. If our numbers decline, we shall not have the strength to bargain.”
On the broad-based government question, Dr Oginga stated:
“It’s Raila who left us in the broad-based government. If it comes to 2027, we shall look at the best person to talk with — or go it alone. For now, we won’t cross the bridge before we reach it.”
At the ODM founders’ dinner later on Saturday evening, before a gathering led by President William Ruto and the party’s veterans, Dr Oginga emphasised that “parties are formed to capture power”, adding that it remains ODM’s main agenda in 2027.
His stand on the broad-based government was both a defence of Odinga’s decision and a direct contradiction to Winnie’s call for a review of the association.
Tensions within the Odinga family were further complicated by actions at Odinga’s rural home in Bondo.
When Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka visited, he was warmly welcomed by Ida Odinga and Siaya Governor James Orengo, both of whom showered him with praises as “one of Raila’s friends.”
This was politically significant because Mr Musyoka is currently spearheading the United Opposition, positioning himself as Odinga’s natural successor outside ODM.
In Mombasa, Raila Junior, however, appeared diplomatic — trying to bridge the widening gaps.
Addressing the party in Mombasa, he said:
“I convey my mum’s greetings from Opoda Farm in Bondo. I thank all the supporters and the people of ODM. Congratulations to Dr Oburu Oginga. Raila wished us to be here, and that’s why we are here. The party remains strong, and in 2027, the winner will be because of this party. Congratulations to uncle (Dr Oginga) because he is the head of the party. I hope, Junet, you have gathered all the Raila orphans.”
Beyond the family matters, the political stakes are enormous.
ODM faces three simultaneous crises:
Leadership transition, where, for the first time in two decades, Odinga is not at the helm.
Secondly, it faces ideological confusion as to whether it remains in the broad-based government or rebuilds its identity in opposition.
Partnership
And thirdly, a power vacuum without Odinga’s unifying force, with factions forming that threaten to divide it.
At the party’s founders’ dinner, Dr Oginga steered the conversation further toward partnership with the government.
“All political parties are formed to capture power. There is no party in the world formed to stay in opposition.”
Dr Oginga argued that there’s no way ODM would implement its progressive policies if it remained in the opposition trenches and preoccupied with anti-government demonstrations.
His speech was widely interpreted as an endorsement of the broad-based government arrangement — positioning ODM not as a junior passenger but as an equal co-driver in shaping Kenya’s future.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi also weighed in, emphasising the need for dialogue and boardroom negotiations as opposed to radical actions to solve issues.
ODM Youth League patron and Siaya Governor James Orengo (centre) with other ODM leaders at the Party's Youth League Convention in Mombasa on November 14, 2025.
“Even for us to attain independence, there were boardroom meetings at Lancaster, and to get a new constitution, people sat at the Bomas of Kenya, so there’s nothing wrong when people dialogue,” said Mr Mbadi.
Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir, one of the ODM deputy party leaders, was equally firm:
“We are not apologetic about being in the broad-based government where Baba left us. Who said that as ODM we don’t have the right to be in government?”
To those plotting against Dr Oginga: “Before you reach Oburu, you will pass through me… and before you reach me, you will meet the people of Kenya.”
National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed urged ODM members to respect party structures.
“ODM has structures — National Executive Council, Central Committee, National Governing Council and National Delegates Convention. Let’s respect their decisions.
ODM National Chairperson Gladys Wanga said that ODM is a democratic party whose members need not have a particular view.
“I’ve learnt that the journey for the foundation of this party was not an easy one. People did not have the same view on matters every time.
“We must embrace that hard discussion so that we come up with a belonging and move together,” Ms Wanga said.
Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi said the current trend, where suspicion among ODM leaders is taking centre stage, was dangerous for the party.
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