Ruto: ODM will form or be part of the next government

This even as he promised to help strengthen ODM ahead of the 2027 General Election as a way of honouring Mr Odinga’s legacy of building national political parties.

“I assure ODM members that we will support them, because Baba believed in the multiplicity of parties. The strength of ODM matters to me because it is how we are going to have a strong democracy.”

“ODM will either form the next government or be a part of the next government. What I will not accept, in honour of Odinga, is people playing with ODM to make it an alienated opposition party.”

Read: Raila children vow to work with other people across the country

It was an assurance from a man, who has in the past been accused of meddling in the running of opposition political parties. Former President Uhuru Kenyatta linked Dr Ruto’s ruling party to his failed attempted ouster as Jubilee Party leader in 2024 by MPs, who had declared support for the President.

The President’s statement also appeared to target youthful politicians in the Orange party, who even before the death of Mr Odinga, had publicly opposed the broad-based government and the idea of backing President Ruto for a second term.

The team under the banner of Kenya Moja is led by ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino among other politicians.

They have rejected aligning themselves with both the broad-based team and the United Opposition led by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.

Long political ties with Raila

Earlier, Siaya Governor James Orengo called on the government not to kill political parties. Speaking during the burial ceremony of Mr Odinga at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Technology, Mr Orengo said the country had made tremendous growth in party democracy and warned against rolling back such gains.

“I urge you even as we speak about unity, let us not kill political parties. Political parties are the foundations of democracy. Any arrangement we go into should not be ones that kill political parties,” said Mr Orengo.

"In 1963, political parties were killed, and it took us 20 years to revive them. Raila was a fighter for justice and democracy all his life, and sometimes I am taken aback by some people who enjoy the rights Raila has fought for, including political parties."

While eulogising Mr Odinga, the President also reflected on his long political ties with Mr Odinga, recounting his interaction with him when he became the Secretary-General of Kanu after the 2002 merger with his National Development Party (NDP).

Read: Inheriting Baba: Winnie Odinga and the weight of legacy

“In the last election in 2022, those who were supporting me were worried that I was not shaken by the competition, because it did not matter to me the outcome because either Raila was going to win, or his political student would.”

He opened up on how he reached out to Mr Odinga after the 2022 polls, promising to correct the wrongs that had been committed against him.

“I am privileged I was given the opportunity to bring on board ODM in government. He did not give me any conditions. I said I wanted the first Finance CS to come from this region and he gave me Mbadi. I am proud we made that decision because the inflation has come done to 4 percent, interest and exchange rates have come down too.”

He also talked about his decision to reach out to his predecessor, Uhuru Kenyatta, in his quest to accelerate the country’s growth.

“I agreed that I will look for President Uhuru Kenyatta and shared what we had discussed the future of this country. I want to thank you immensely that you shared that we eliminate ethnicity and catapult this nation to a first world country,” said the President.

He said Mr Odinga was concerned about the pace of the country’s development, often citing countries like Singapore and Malaysia. 

In the last three months, he said, they had extensive discussions about how to accelerate our growth.