Suba South Member of Parliament Caroli Omondi has declared that ODM is finished as a political force, saying the party that Raila Odinga built over two decades has been hollowed out from within and now effectively takes instructions from President William Ruto.
Speaking during an interview on Spice FM, Omondi said that ODM is dead and what is remaining in the party is just the name.
“To be frank, ODM is dead. There’s no more ODM except in name. A lot of people make the mistake that they think the party is the name. The party are the values you carry, the aspirations, the agenda, the work plans, the manifesto, and ODM has betrayed all those. This has been long coming,” he said.
Omondi said the ODM of 2005 and the ODM of the last ten years are two entirely different animals.
He added that even during Raila’s lifetime, the party was being undermined from within by people who were closer to other interests than they were to Baba himself.
“Sometimes I used to ask him, where did you get these guys from? Many around Baba were working against Baba. There were many people around Baba in ODM, very senior and very loud and very close to him, but were agents of the state or agents of other political interests,” he said, adding that one of those individuals is now negotiating to join the cabinet before 2027.
He went further, claiming that a plan is being hatched to position Wycliffe Oparanya, CS for Co-operatives MSMEs Development, as deputy president as a way of claiming to revive ODM, while other ODM-affiliated figures are being lined up for cabinet positions.
“That’s what they are planning. But ODM is dead,” he stated.
On who actually runs ODM today, Omondi explained that Ruto is the de facto leader, who gives the party instructions.
“The de facto leader of ODM today is William Ruto. He gives them instructions, he tells them what to do, they answer to him through Farouk. A lot of members don’t know this,” he said.
He said ODM’s presence on the ground has all but disappeared outside pockets of Nyanza.
“There is no ODM in Western Kenya, in Coast, in Nairobi. ODM is now just appearing, making little appearances in some parts of Nyanza. And soon Linda Mwananchi will be in Homa Bay,” Caroli concluded.
