NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 19 – Top Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) figures serving in President William Ruto’s administration have vowed to remain in the broad-based government, saying it was the late Raila Odinga’s wish for the party to work with the current regime.
The ODM-affiliated Cabinet Secretaries including Mining CS Hassan Joho, Cooperatives and MSMEs CS Wycliffe Oparanya, Treasury CS John Mbadi, Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi, and EAC CS Beatrice Askul made the pledge during Odinga’s burial in Bondo, insisting that it was Raila himself who had directed them to join President Ruto’s administration as part of his broader vision for national unity and inclusivity.
“Raila showed us before he died that he wanted us to be in government as a community and as a party, we will support the broad-based government,” Treasury CS Mbadi stated.
Joho echoed the sentiment, stating, “I have never betrayed Raila and I cannot be anywhere where Raila has not taken me. I was taken to the government of William Ruto by Raila Odinga that is where I shall stay.”
Wandayi, Oparanya, and Askul also reaffirmed their allegiance to the administration, with Askul revealing that Raila had personally instructed her to continue supporting the government’s agenda.
Earlier ODM Chairperson and Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga revealed that the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s final wish was for his party to remain in the broad-based government alongside President William Ruto.
Wanga said the ODM leader, in his last public engagement, made a conscious decision to align the opposition party with the ruling coalition in the spirit of national unity.
The statements come amid months of internal tension within ODM over the proposed partnership with President Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
The debate has exposed deep ideological rifts: while some senior members back the move as a step toward political stability and inclusivity, a youthful faction led by Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has denounced it as a betrayal of ODM’s reformist legacy.
Raila’s passing now leaves ODM at a political crossroads balancing his legacy of opposition-driven reform with a pragmatic approach to governance.
Odinga, 80, died of cardiac arrest while receiving treatment in Kochi, India.
His death marks the end of an era for Kenya’s opposition politics and ushers in an uncertain phase for ODM, which must now decide whether to sustain its independence or embrace collaboration under the broad-based government framework.
