By Billy Mijungu
ODM is facing a serious internal crisis. The party’s biggest threat today is not external competition but the confusion created by its own mixed messaging. The multiplicity of schools of thought within ODM points to fragmentation, and reassembling that unity will be a task like no other. Raila Odinga once held these competing interests together almost effortlessly. Without that singular authority, the cracks are becoming more visible by the day.
ODM does not lack numbers, history, or national presence. What it lacks at this moment is clarity. A party cannot move forward when it is speaking in many voices, pulling in different directions, and advancing conflicting political strategies simultaneously. Mixed messaging creates uncertainty among supporters, weakens negotiating power, and portrays a party that is unsure of itself.
The solution is not complicated. ODM needs unity, discipline, and focus. It must stay off political limits, stop the internal noise, and concentrate on putting its leaders on the ballot in a coordinated and united manner. In fact, one could argue that this task is easier without the immediate burden of a presidential contest. Strong parliamentary, gubernatorial, and county-level representation would anchor the party firmly while preserving its long-term national relevance.
Today, everyone wants a piece of ODM. Names keep popping up daily, each attached to a different agenda. There are those who want William Ruto to be ODM’s preferred candidate. There are those who insist ODM must remain firmly in opposition. Others want an internally grown ODM presidential candidate. Some are using the party as a bargaining chip to negotiate personal positions, while others simply do not care about the party’s future as long as their short-term interests are served.
This lack of consensus is dangerous. It creates the impression of a party drifting without a compass at a time when strategic clarity is most needed. Wisdom seems to be eluding ODM precisely when it should be most grounded, most disciplined, and most deliberate.
Political parties do not collapse overnight. They erode slowly through indecision, internal contradictions, and failure to manage ambition. If ODM does not urgently resolve its mixed messaging, align its leadership, and speak with one clear voice, its decline will not come from defeat at the ballot but from confusion within its own ranks.
Unity is not optional. It is existential.
