{"id":147138,"date":"2026-07-17T16:02:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T16:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/linda-mwananchi-camp-concedes-defeat-in-battle-for-odm-says-party-has-been-captured\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T16:02:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T16:02:49","slug":"linda-mwananchi-camp-concedes-defeat-in-battle-for-odm-says-party-has-been-captured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/linda-mwananchi-camp-concedes-defeat-in-battle-for-odm-says-party-has-been-captured\/","title":{"rendered":"Linda Mwananchi camp concedes defeat in battle for ODM, says party has been captured"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI,Kenya July 17 \u2013 A group of senior Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leaders aligned to the Linda Mwananchi movement has declared that it has abandoned its bid to reclaim the party, saying it believes ODM has drifted away from the ideals of its late leader Raila Odinga and fallen under the influence of the Kenya Kwanza administration.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking during a press briefing on Friday, Siaya Governor James Orengo, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi and Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka said months of internal resistance had failed to reverse what they described as the party\u2019s new political direction.<\/p>\n

The declaration marks a dramatic shift in the post-Raila succession battle that has consumed ODM since the veteran opposition leader\u2019s death nearly a year ago, exposing deep divisions over the party\u2019s future and its relationship with President William Ruto\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

The four leaders had previously vowed to \u201cfight for the soul of ODM,\u201d insisting the party should remain an independent opposition outfit rather than work closely with the Kenya Kwanza government.<\/p>\n

But Osotsi said the group had accepted that the battle had been lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said that we want to fight for the soul of the ODM party and the day we will feel that we have lost the fight, we will tell Kenyans that we have lost the fight. Today, we have decided that we will continue to be the carriers of the dream of Raila Amolo Odinga for the benefit of the people of Kenya,\u201d Osotsi said.<\/p>\n

The leaders also announced plans to strengthen the Linda Mwananchi movement, saying they would establish offices across their respective counties to coordinate their activities and build a national political network.<\/p>\n

Orengo said the group had unanimously resolved to rally behind Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna despite his recent removal from ODM\u2019s leadership, arguing that the development had only elevated his political profile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have agreed and stood firmly behind our Secretary General, Senator Edwin Watenya Sifuna. We have seen what the group led by Oburu has done to him, but we have told him that is a small issue. He is now bigger than what he was,\u201d Orengo said.<\/p>\n

In a bold political declaration, Orengo described Sifuna as a future national leader, saying the senator had grown beyond his former role in the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur leader is now bigger. He was the Secretary General. He is the incoming president,\u201d he said, without elaborating on whether he was referring to Sifuna\u2019s ambitions within ODM or a future presidential bid.<\/p>\n

The Siaya governor added that the Linda Mwananchi movement would soon open offices in counties across the country, insisting that its support base extended beyond Sifuna\u2019s home region and reflected a broader national push to carry forward what the group described as Raila Odinga\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n

The leaders accused ODM\u2019s current leadership of abandoning the party\u2019s founding principles and alleged that key decisions affecting the party were no longer being made at its Orange House headquarters but elsewhere.<\/p>\n

They claimed the latest evidence was the decision to remove Sifuna from the Senate Deputy Minority Whip position.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, we in ODM now have got into a place where we know that decisions affecting ODM and its membership are no longer made at Chungwa, including the decision yesterday to remove me from the position of deputy whip in the minority,\u201d Sifuna said.<\/p>\n

ODM leaders allied to the party leadership and the Linda Ground movement \u00a0have previously defended their cooperation with the government as being in the national interest.<\/p>\n

Sifuna\u2019s removal from the Senate leadership came after a Parliamentary Group meeting that replaced him with Migori Senator Eddy Oketch, in what became the latest setback for the Nairobi senator amid an escalating struggle for control of the party.<\/p>\n

The fallout reflects a wider political contest that has intensified since Raila\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

ODM has split into two rival camps \u00a0the Linda Mwananchi faction, led by Orengo, Sifuna and Osotsi, which insists the party should remain a watchdog in opposition, and the Linda Ground faction, led by Oburu Odinga , which supports continued cooperation with President Ruto through the broad-based government arrangement<\/p>\n

The divisions have triggered a series of leadership changes, disciplinary battles and court cases, including Sifuna\u2019s removal as ODM Secretary-General, the ouster of Osotsi from the deputy party leader position and fresh changes to parliamentary leadership.<\/p>\n

Raila\u2019s absence has exposed long-suppressed succession disputes that were previously held together by his authority, leaving the party divided over both leadership and ideology ahead of the 2027 General Election<\/p>\n

Despite conceding defeat in the internal contest, the Linda Mwananchi leaders said they would continue championing what they described as Raila\u2019s vision of defending ordinary Kenyans, signalling that their political movement would remain active even outside the mainstream ODM leadership structure.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI,Kenya July 17 \u2013 A group of senior Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leaders aligned to the Linda Mwananchi movement has declared that it has abandoned its bid to reclaim the party, saying it believes ODM has drifted away from the ideals of its late leader Raila Odinga and fallen under the influence of the Kenya […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-147138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}