By Anderson Ojwang
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Dr Oburu Oginga is fast walking out of the shadows of his younger brother, the late Raila Amolo Odinga, and is already steadying the ship.
Oburu, a founder and trustee of the party, has weathered the political storm and is fast fitting into his own leadership shoes as he charts a new dispensation for the party.
Unlike Raila, a blessed orator and crowd puller, Oburu is a boardroom manager, a shrewd negotiator and has mastered the art of political chess, playing his cards close to his chest.
Oburu for ages played weak but lethal and knows when to make a move, and that is why Raila relied on him for advice.
Oburu, after his appointment as the party leader, declared that he would not copy-paste Raila but would apply his own leadership credentials to push the party to the next political level.
Currently, Dr Oburu is creating his own political identity and identifying staff and political allies who sync with his political ideology and philosophy for the party.
This explains why Oburu cracked down on the dissidents to his leadership led by the Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, Embakasi MP Babu Owino and Siaya Governor James Orengo, who have formed a faction to rival the party leader’s Linda Ground outfit.
Sifuna and his team formed a faction, Linda Wanainchi, to rival Oburu’s and are opposed to a pre-election coalition pact with President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
Sifuna was recently sacked from the party but got a reprieve from the court while Dr Oburu has moved ahead with the pre-election coalition engagement with President Ruto.
From cleaning out dissidents, Dr Oburu has moved to establish the party leader’s office in Nairobi’s Riverside to run his political agenda.
And now Dr Oburu is wading through the storm over the alleged sacking of the staff of the late Raila.
The sacking could have been blown out of context for political expediency.
Raila had three sets of employees, with the first being government-seconded staff for having been the Prime Minister and who were attached to him until his death.
The second set were employees given to him by ODM and were on the payroll of the party.
The third and last cadre were staff employed by Raila whom he paid from his pocket to run his personal errands and were based at the capital.
With the demise of Raila and the appointment of the new party leader, a realignment and reorganization had to take place to make the office of the new party leader operational.
Oburu did not enjoy the privileges of the office of the Prime Minister and therefore the staff previously attached to Raila had to go back to the government for redeployment.
Those employed by the party returned for redeployment and reassignment as the party leader builds his new team of staff.
The third cadre, just like in a limited company when it folds, and with Raila’s demise, the staff directly employed by Raila had to leave.
But the new party leader, Dr Oburu, and the party for the last five months have been paying salaries to the last cadre of staff out of goodwill.
And two weeks ago, the group received a notice of discontinuation of salary payments as the party leader moves to recruit and entrench his office.
Similarly, the Capital Hill premises were Raila’s personal property and did not belong to the party, which is why the new party leader had to seek new premises.
Sources also revealed to Western Insight that before Raila’s demise he directed the party to absorb some of the employees he had employed and was paying their salaries directly from his pocket.
“Before Raila travelled to India for treatment, he instructed one of the ODM senior staff to absorb us in the party and regularize our employment. We are happy that Raila employed us at the party before he died,” said our sources.
Dr Oburu’s Chief of Staff, Mr Michael Agwanda, said the party leader has not sacked anyone, as was reported in the media.
“We are reconstituting the office of the party leader and those who served under Raila and qualify should apply just like any other Kenyans so that we can have competitive recruitment,” he said.
Agwanda said none of the staff employed directly or indirectly by Raila’s Capital Hill office have visited the offices of the new party leader and wondered why they were complaining about being sacked yet they have not placed requests to be retained or serve in the new office.
“We don’t understand why some people have resorted to playing politics with this matter. Some of those playing politics with the issue have their allegiances elsewhere. Anyone who has their allegiance elsewhere will not be part of the new party leader’s team,” he said.
He said their commitment was to Dr Oburu as the party leader to steer the party to greater heights.
