Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga has brushed off critics of the proposed partnership between the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA). He insisted that the talks should solely concentrate on securing the party’s equitable share of national leadership and development projects.
While attending a church service in Bondo on Sunday, March 8, 2026, Oburu explained that ODM leaders are currently assembling a negotiating team. This group will advocate for the key issues outlined in the 10-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2025 by President William Ruto and the late Raila Odinga.
These comments arrived just before the scheduled Tuesday review of the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) report, which serves as the foundation for the 10-point agenda.
“We want to negotiate so that we have something which we deserve. We do not want something from the mountain. We do not want your share. We just want our share as ODM,” Oburu said.
Oburu explained that party leadership is already forming the team responsible for steering these upcoming discussions.
“We are going to continue to negotiate, and we are preparing a negotiating team, and we are working very hard,” he stated.
The ODM leader also addressed rumors regarding March 7, 2026. While some critics viewed this date as a final deadline for the ODM-UDA agreement, Oburu clarified that it served as an interim review of their progress rather than an expiration date. He noted that the parties chose this specific day to celebrate the anniversary of the broad-based government.
“Some people were saying that the 10-point agenda is coming to an end on the seventh. I want to tell my people that the seventh was chosen deliberately because it was the anniversary of the broad-based government,” he said.
“It was not that the world is coming to an end on the seventh. It was not that ODM and UDA were divorcing on the seventh.”
Oburu confirmed that party leadership has already reviewed the progress report with the president and identified significant achievements.
“On the seventh it was just to give an interim report of the 10-point agenda. We have gone through that report with His Excellency the President. We have seen the progress. There’s a lot of progress which has been made,” he said.
Oburu rejected claims from critics that the MoU has produced no results. He argued that these individuals fail to examine the specific details of what the government has already implemented.
“There are some people who are saying that the 10-point agenda has zero performance. They do not take their time to go through the details of what is in the 10-point agenda and see what has been implemented and what has not,” he said.
He highlighted the strengthening of devolution as a key area of progress, pointing to the Ksh 415 billion parliamentary approval for county allocations. He noted that ODM leaders now intend to push that figure toward Ksh 450 billion, arguing that robust funding remains essential for effective devolved governance.
“Even on devolution and devolved funds, something which we passed in the Senate and in Parliament was to give counties 415 billion shillings. Devolution cannot be strengthened without giving them money. You have to devolve money,” he said, adding, “Our departed leader had said he wanted it to reach 450, and I know these MPs together with the senators are planning to push it to 450.”
