By Anderson Ojwang
Kenya’s political terrain is likely to get more interesting, intense, trickier and phenomenal after Winnie Odinga opened up on her next political move.
With only a month to the first anniversary of the former Prime Minister, the late Raila Odinga, her father, Winnie could be preparing the ground and the public for her next thunderous political move.
In an interview with a Nigerian YouTube channel, Winnie said her decision to run for a political office cannot just be an Odinga for Odinga’s sake.
“The decision for me running cannot just be an Odinga for Odinga’s sake,” she said.
In the Footsteps of Her Father
Winnie could be walking right into the footsteps of her father, Raila’s earlier political moment after the death of his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, then the leader of Ford-K.
Winnie rightly finds herself in the thick of things that her father found himself in 32 years ago. History is repeating itself, with huge political consequences once again.
She said that currently in Kenya, it was a transfer period, with politicians changing political alliances and parties ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“The manager is different now. The transfer window is open; people change teams. I believe it is a transfer window in Kenya. People will change teams,” she said.
Referencing the events after the death of her grandfather and Raila’s next political move over convenience, Winnie remained open to options.
“When my grandfather Jaramogi Oginga Odinga died, he was the leader of Ford Kenya. After he died, he moved around with the people of his age, and a lot of those people had a lot of trouble with my father because he was younger and he had different ideas,” she said.
Power Struggle in Ford-K
After the death of Jaramogi, a power struggle broke out in Ford-K, first over the position of the party vice chairman, in which Ugenya MP James Orengo defeated Raila. Raila then turned his eye on the party national chairman position, occupied by the late Wamalwa Kijana.
Orengo and most of the MPs supported Wamalwa against Raila, and the latter resigned from the party and sought re-election on the now-defunct National Development Party (NDP) ticket to overwhelmingly recapture the Langata constituency seat against KANU’s Fred Amayo.
The Movement
Winnie said her father could not compromise for convenience and subsequently moved on.
“He just moved differently. He wanted everything to remain, but he wrote in his book, if the time comes, whether I will pick political convenience or the comfort of convenience over what I stand for and I believe in,” she said.
Winnie said, faced with a similar situation, she would walk alone over comfort and convenience.
“If the time comes, whether I will pick political convenience or the comfort of convenience over what I stand for and I believe in, I will always pick the latter, and if that means I will walk alone, then I will walk alone,” she said.
History Repeating
Winnie said the current situation could be history repeating itself and that she would not ignore the will of the people.
“I feel that a similar situation may be happening and mimicking too. As much as I love this thing my father built, I have been part of building it.
“I understand, and I want this thing to have life. I cannot ignore the will of the people that I represent, and they still have anger, they still have frustrations,” she said.
Winnie said her political decision would be influenced by the feelings of the people and that she would not compromise.
“The decision is, I have to be able to capture the feelings of the people I want to represent adequately,” she said.
ODM Shift
Winnie said if ODM doesn’t listen to the people, she would have no option but to move out.
“If this vehicle is hell-bent on opposing the feelings of what they want, then I am left optionless.
“I will stand with the right I believe in and will not compromise. I will not compromise them for convenience or comfort,” she said.
Ruto Support
Winnie said she had not decided to support President William Ruto’s re-election.
“I have not decided to support Ruto in 2027,” she said.
But the current ODM party leader, Dr Oburu Oginga, who is her uncle, has declared full support for President Ruto’s second term.
ODM NDC
Winnie said it was the duty of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to decide whether to present a presidential candidate in the 2027 general elections.
“On the ODM party presidential candidate, we will have a national delegates conference this year, and that is where the decision will be made,” she said.
Briefcase Movement
The immediate former secretary-general of ODM, Edwin Sifuna, complained of a huge amount of money in the party coming from outside the party.
Sifuna revealed that the funds and resources being used in the ongoing Linda Ground engagements did not come from the party.
“The money and the resources you see being spent on the ODM rallies called Linda Ground do not come from ODM headquarters.
“For me, I can only account for the monies because I am a signatory to the bank accounts, and Timothy Bosire is also a signatory. The last money we expended as ODM officially was for the celebration in Mombasa, and it was a fraction of what you saw there,” he said.
Sifuna said there was parallel funding of political activities in the party, and they did not know where the funds were coming from.
“For a fact, there is parallel funding for activities clothed in ODM colours, and they go around saying they are ODM delegates.
“The Linda Ground activities are not financed from the ODM coffers and headquarters. There is no money that I executed a cheque for those activities.
“We didn’t have any money. The third-quarter remittance from the Exchequer came two weeks ago, amounting to about Sh100 million, and it is a drop in the ocean compared to what ODM is supposed to receive.
“ODM was owed a total of Sh12 billion by the Treasury, yet we are being told that my former chairperson is the Cabinet Secretary for the Treasury,” he said.
Kisumu Women Representative Ruth Odinga also complained about the flow of money in the party, which did not happen during Raila’s time.
“Where is the money used to fly choppers, procure big tents, and mobilise and brand crowds in ODM colours coming from, yet the same money cannot be sent to the ODM Party bank accounts? That only means one thing: control.
“So they must be the ones controlling the show, where they decide who is ‘invited’ to the Linda Ground tents and what they say once they get there,” she said then.
Winnie said there was a need for the party to let the people decide and listen to what its supporters want and think.
“There is a lot of briefcase carrying and shuffling about as people are searching for self-survival. Therefore, the will of the people may not be the priority for some of the operatives,” she said.
