Lawyer Paul Mwangi, who served as the late Raila Odinga’s legal advisor, revealed what he describes as a calculated political strategy used by the former prime minister during his final political maneuvers. Speaking in an exclusive radio interview on Saturday, March 28, 2026, Mwangi claimed that the veteran leader deliberately positioned Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as an “exit plan” while cooperating with President William Ruto.
Mwangi explained that Raila carefully structured his moves to ensure he never found himself trapped in a single political corner. According to the lawyer, Raila maintained parallel factions within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) as a safeguard for his political survival.
“When Raila started working with Ruto, he had an exit strategy… the people who were fighting his cooperation with Ruto, that is Sifuna’s side,” Mwangi said.
Mwangi explained that a dissenting faction allowed Raila to maintain leverage during negotiations, giving him a clear path to pivot if the alliance crumbled.
“If things were not going to work out, he would have turned to his militant side and told them, ‘Come get me,’” Mwangi added.
He further argued that Raila’s tactic of balancing competing internal camps served him well across various coalitions throughout his career.
“The aim of having two factions while entering into a deal was that he was a good strategist… he would never allow you to box him in,” he said.
The lawyer noted that this delicate balancing act helped Raila navigate complex political deals while protecting his influence and bargaining power. Mwangi suggested that ODM’s current internal turmoil stems from the loss of Raila’s unifying authority.
“The problem that we have today is that he passed away before he called people to order,” he said.
