“I want to affirm that Baba has left us in the government led by President William Ruto, and that is where we are going to stay till the end. I can dare say, without fear of contradiction, that we are going to walk step by step with President William Ruto to the end, now and beyond 2027,” — CS Opiyo Wandayi
By TWV Reporter
Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi has insisted that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM)’s cooperation with President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) under the broad-based government will continue despite the death of its leader, Raila Odinga.
There has been speculation that, with Raila’s exit from the political stage, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ODM and UDA, which set out a 10-point agenda to guide their cooperation, is as good as dead.
Even before Raila’s demise, following a cardiac arrest while receiving treatment in India, there had been stiff opposition within ODM to his agreement to work with President Ruto. The deal, which was reportedly brokered to stabilise Ruto’s administration after last year’s Gen Z revolt that nearly swept him out of State House, divided opinion among party loyalists.
Key figures such as Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna and youthful MPs, including Embakasi East’s Babu Owino and Saboti’s Caleb Amisi, have never hidden their opposition to the arrangement.
However, speaking at the veteran politician’s Opoda farm in Bondo on Saturday, 18 October, ahead of his burial, Wandayi declared that ODM would continue backing President Ruto, including in his bid for re-election in 2027.
“I want to affirm that Baba has left us in the government led by President William Ruto, and that is where we are going to stay till the end. I can dare say, without fear of contradiction, that we are going to walk step by step with President William Ruto to the end, now and beyond 2027,” he said.
At the same time, Wandayi supported the decision by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to appoint Raila’s elder brother, Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga, as acting party leader, describing it as a wise and stabilising move.
Amid fears of an ugly succession battle within the Orange party, Wandayi pledged to ensure that Dr Oginga is formally confirmed to the position by delegates as soon as possible.
“In fact, I will be proposing, as a life member of ODM, that the party convene very quickly, soon after Baba’s send-off, for a national delegates’ convention to confirm Dr Oburu’s appointment and elect him formally as the ODM party leader,” he stated.
Wandayi, who previously served as National Assembly Minority Leader and ODM Political Affairs Secretary, is among those Raila nominated to join Ruto’s Cabinet as part of efforts to calm political unrest and address grievances raised by Gen Z protesters over punitive taxes, unemployment, corruption, and the high cost of living.
Other ODM figures serving in the Cabinet include Raila’s deputies, Hassan Joho (Mining and Maritime Affairs) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Co-operatives and MSMEs Development); party chairman John Mbadi (National Treasury and Planning); and National Elections Board member Beatrice Askul (East African Affairs and Regional Development).
Several of Raila’s allies were also appointed as principal secretaries, diplomats, parastatal chiefs, and presidential advisers.
Wandayi’s position, however, appears to contradict Raila’s remarks last month, in which he stated that nothing prevents ODM from fielding its own presidential candidate in the 2027 general election.
