Embakasi East MP Babu Owino greets Treasury CS John Mbadi during ODM's 20th anniversary celebrations at the Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa County, November 15, 2025. /JOHN MBADI/XEmbakasi East MP Babu Owino has urged ODM supporters to remain unwavering in championing the ideals that Raila Odinga stood for, reminding them that loyalty to those principles should define the party’s next chapter.
Speaking on Saturday during the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Orange Democratic Movement at the Mama Ngina Waterfront in Mombasa County, the outspoken legislator warned that the party would not hesitate to return to the streets should the cost of living rise again.
"And I want to assure Raila Odinga wherever he is at this moment; Baba siku ya leo, gharama ya maisha ikienda juu tutaenda maandamano, wapende wasipende (Baba if today the cost of living goes up, we shall demonstrate whether they like it or not)."
His remarks recalled the tumultuous period in March 2023 when Raila spearheaded nationwide demonstrations over soaring prices of basic commodities and what he labelled electoral injustice after the 2022 general election.
"Every Monday there will be a strike, there will be a demonstration," Odinga told crowds of chanting followers in Nairobi at the time.
"The war has begun; it will not end until Kenyans get their rights."
Those protests marked the first major unrest under President William Ruto’s administration, with running battles erupting in several towns between police and demonstrators throwing stones.
The standoff prompted President Ruto to extend an olive branch to Raila in an effort to restore calm, but the ODM leader initially declined the invitation.
It was not until July 2024 that Raila softened his stance, agreeing to a working arrangement with Ruto after the passage of a controversial Finance Bill triggered a wave of Gen Z–led protests.
The demonstrations, which escalated sharply on July 25, turned deadly, resulting in multiple fatalities and prompting urgent calls for national healing.
The eventual agreement paved the way for the formation of a broad-based government that brought in key ODM stalwarts, including Hassan Joho, Wycliffe Oparanya, Opiyo Wandayi and John Mbadi.
Raila’s intervention was widely credited with cooling tensions and stabilising the country.
In recognition of that role, President Ruto honoured the former ODM leader with Kenya’s highest civilian award, the Chief of the Golden Heart (CGH), praising what he termed Raila’s selflessness and statesmanship.
But Babu, whose invitation by Secretary General Edwin Sifuna to address ODM supporters was received with wild cheers, warned that the spirit of resistance remains intact within the party even in Raila's absence, should national conditions deteriorate again.
"To Baba the great, we want to tell our people, to rise, rise with courage, rise with conviction, rise with strength to fight because we know that we are stronger than our oppressors," he said.
