By Anderson Ojwang’
President William Ruto made good his promise to secure the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) from the rebel faction of Siaya Governor James Orengo, Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino.
But in return, President Ruto has suffered a political setback after he lost the Murang’a gem, Governor Irungu Kangata, to the Linda Mwananchi group of the Orengo-led faction.
The kick
In October last year, at the burial of the former Prime Minister, the late Raila Odinga, the immediate party leader of ODM, Ruto said he would protect the party from slipping into the wrong hands.
“The future of ODM matters a great deal to me. I will not allow, in honour of Raila, and I will do what it takes. So God help me, are those who want to remove ODM from government and use it to play opposition politics? That will not happen,” he said at the burial then.
Ruto said he would respect the ODM party in honour of Raila and that it was the wish of Raila that the party remained in the broad-based arrangement.
“I am proud that ODM is part of the government. I know I am the party leader of UDA. From Baba’s wishes, he built the largest political party, ODM. I want to tell you that I will respect ODM. I will hold ODM together, and it must be strong as we go to the 2027 general elections,” he said then.
The retaliation
Kangata earlier in the year declared that he would not defend his seat on a UDA ticket and would seek an alternative vehicle.
Kangata, one of the top performers, won the 2022 gubernatorial elections with a total of 256,561 votes and was followed by Jamleck Kamau of the Jubilee Party with 91,154 votes, from a total registered voters of 620,929.
In the last general election, the voter turnout was 68 percent, with President Ruto securing 343,421 votes against Azimio La Umoja Presidential candidate, the late Raila Amolo Odinga’s 73,519 votes.
Kangata quoted President Ruto that the people were supreme and that it was incumbent upon him to adhere to what the people had told him.
“President Ruto has always told us that the people are supreme, and thank you for that statement. Therefore, my responsibility is to adhere to what the people have told me. And in light of that, and because I have tried my best to have these issues resolved internally, I have had a candid discussion with the President one on one, where we shared these ideas, but we did not reach what we call full convergence,” he said.
Kangata said he had conclusively decided to defend his seat on a different platform and not UDA.
“I have no doubt to say that after careful reflection, I wish to state that come 2027, I will not defend my seat on the current party ticket. I will later, at a certain stage, communicate the platform on which I will present myself to the electorates,” he said.
The Thika Rally
The presence of Kangata in the recent Linda Mwananchi rally in Thika was the icing on the cake and sweet revenge by the faction on Ruto. An eye for an eye, a tit-for-tat kind of battle.
Kangata’s presence at the rally, after he recently ditched President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA), was a political earthquake in the current dispensation.
The Governor emotionally whipped the crowd, saying he had attended the rally because the movement was to unite Kenyans for a common purpose.
“I have come here for a reason. I know Kenya is for us all, regardless of your tribe. You did not apply to be born in a particular community. We are one family brought together by a common desire – a united Kenya,” he said.
He said Linda Mwananchi was the movement which has brought Kenyans together, led by Sifuna, Babu, and Orengo.
“I look at the manifesto for the country. This country is overtaxing companies, leading to unemployment in Thika and every part of the country. Unemployment is a serious cancer in this country which we must tackle,” he said.
He took a swipe at the government for failing to prioritise education and health sectors and only concentrating on the construction of houses.
“We are prioritising education and health sectors, and currently we have a serious crisis. The government is only constructing houses,” he said.
The disappointment
Cabinet Secretary Alice Nganga expressed disappointment at the decision by Kangata to move to Linda Mwananchi.
“So you know he left the party and announced and went to various media outlets. We are supporting two terms. Last two weeks ago, I saw him at Thika Stadium. He defected to Linda Mwananchi. Do we have Linda Mwananchi in this region?” she said.
The desperation
The ODM Linda Ground have been desperate for President Ruto’s attention, and in him, their political survival lives.
ODM party leader Oburu Oginga echoed President Ruto’s sentiment of ODM producing a president or forming a coalition government.
“If President Ruto sees our party as the most active, you may see him rejoin us and even seek to be our presidential candidate.”
Oburu said at the party’s anniversary that Ruto was free to rejoin ODM, being a founder member.
ODM Deputy Party Leader Simba Arati, during a recent meeting with ODM party officials from Nairobi, said that President Ruto was welcome back to the party.
“William Ruto, I welcome you back to ODM, and in honour of Raila, let’s ensure the party wins the 2027 general elections. William Ruto was a founder member of the party, so were Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalonzo Musyoka. If you respect Baba, come back to the party,” he said.
“We will compete for the ODM presidential flag bearer so that we get the winner,” he said.
Fight back
Orengo has claimed that a section of the party leadership had been paid to sell out the party.
He said there was a scheme meant to devalue the party from a national outfit and regionalise it as a Nyanza party.
“I see an attempt to try to drive ODM to become purely regional, and if not, a Luo party. The elements of the party from other regions are fairly quiet when we have this civil war within the party,” he said.
The mysterious hand
Suba South MP Caroli Omondi gave an insight into what could be happening in the party and the emergence of a mysterious hand pulling the strings in the party.
“There was a very quick transition even before Baba’s body arrived. When Mzee Oburu announced that he had accepted to be the party leader, he said he did not even know that there was a process to make him party leader. What that implies was that that call came from somewhere else. And that worries me a lot. This is because it therefore seems that ODM is getting directions and controls from somewhere else,” he said.
Drama unfolds
For now, it is a drab draw for both Ruto and the Orengo-led faction.
But as the clock ticks, President Ruto should be worried about Linda Mwananchi’s invasion and possible big fish catches from his fold.
He has successfully nestled ODM into his fold, but the people may have walked in the opposite direction.
