- ODM continues to be deeply divided following the death of Raila Odinga, with various groups accusing each other of betrayal and secret deals with personal interests.
- Suna East Member of Parliament, Junet Mohamed, has claimed that some of his colleagues are secretly persuading former president Uhuru Kenyatta with promises of funding towards the 2027 elections, but he insisted that ODM must remain supportive of the government as Raila left it.
- He dismissed the opposition’s strategies as useless, and urged the opposition to leave instead of disrupting the order of the integrated government.
Divisions continue to rock the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party as groups make serious claims against each other.
Source: Twitter
Since the death of its longtime leader Raila Odinga in October this year, the Orange party has suffered major disagreements as the main leaders failed to agree on the direction of the party towards the 2027 general election.
In recent days, members have been accusing each other of selling the party for personal interests.
The latest to claim an “auction” is the Member of Parliament for Suna East, Junet Mohamed, who accused his colleagues of secretly undermining the leadership of the party while pushing contracts with the former president Uhuru Kenyatta.
Speaking at a meeting held in his constituency on December 24, the minority leader in the National Assembly said that he was once approached by a senior party official who he did not name.
He claimed that the officer wanted to convince him to leave the group of supporters of the integrated government and join the opposition with the promise of Uhuru’s support in the 2027 elections.
“I was recently invited to a meeting in Kisumu. He was one of those who opposed the inclusive government. They explained to me their plan. They said there was no need to support President William Ruto. Their alternative plan was to unite in the opposition, where we would get the support of former president Uhuru Kenyatta. They said Uhuru is ready to invest one billion shillings in party politics towards 2027,” said Junet.
Junet said he rejected the idea saying that Uhuru had nothing new to offer beyond what he had when he was president.
According to Junet, the fact that the late Raila Odinga lost the 2022 presidential election despite the support of Uhuru should be a sufficient lesson.
He accused the officials of criticizing those who support him Ruto within ODM while they themselves are chasing directionless agreements.
“They call others brokers while they want to sell the party to Uhuru; now there are two brokers in the party. They are making a lot of noise in ODM because they plan to break the integrated government so that we can return to the opposition. Uhuru had all the power in his hands but Raila Odinga lost,” he demanded.
The MP announced that the party will remain in government as he left it to the late Raila Odinga, and urged those who oppose the arrangement to leave.
“They can call each other the names they want, but we will not leave the integrated government; instead, they will leave ODM. We are not from ODM nor from the integrated government. We are in the integrated government of our own free will, and we will not be threatened. If he is not satisfied, then he can form his own party and plan the coalition he wants,” he said.
In a strong statement against Vihiga Senator, Godfrey Osotsi, Junet said that Osotsi has no authority to decide the direction of the party.
According to Junet, Osotsi joined the party long after ODM was formed, so he has no power to lead the party despite his position as deputy leader.
Osotsi, who was previously appointed as a Member of Parliament for the 12th Parliament through the ANC, withdrew from the party in 2019.
He later joined ODM, and won the Vihiga Senatorial seat in the 2022 election on that party’s ticket.
“Some have not been in the party for a long time; less than three years, while some of us have grown up under Raila Odinga and ODM. They were in the ANC before coming to ODM, but they want to preach to us who have been in the party. We are in an integrated government and we will remain,” said Junet.
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