Ruto woos ODM chiefs as party eyes Kindiki’s post

President William Ruto is widely expected to attend ODM’s 20th anniversary celebrations in Mombasa on Saturday, a strategic move aimed at courting the opposition party’s top brass.

Both ODM and State House sources have confirmed to the Star that the President will cut short his Ukambani tour to join the Orange brigade for the milestone event.

“As of now, he will be going for the celebrations,” a State House source said on Friday morning.

This will mark the first time the Head of State meets the ODM family since the burial of the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga on October 19.

Ruto has stepped up behind-the-scenes lobbying to bring ODM on board ahead of the 2027 elections, a maneuvre that has stirred tensions within the two-decade-old party.

Emissaries from Nyanza have been quietly pitching the idea of a pre-election pact, making the upcoming celebrations a prime stage for early coalition arithmetic.

The gathering, packed with ODM representatives from across the country, offers Ruto an excellent platform to lay out his agenda and build networks with the Orange brigade.

However, the meeting comes at a delicate moment.

ODM has made it clear that any coalition arrangement must guarantee the number two slot — currently held by Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki.

“If we have to accept a lower position, it must not be lower than number two in any formation. That is my take. We should not take less than that,” ODM party leader Oburu Oginga told NTV on November 2.

The ODM’s demand puts Ruto in a tight corner, balancing between winning new frontiers and keeping restive Mt Kenya which may not be willing to renegotiate the DP’s slot.

While Kenya Kwanza has not has not publicly commented on the ODM’s DP demand, signals from within the administration suggest the President is willing to negotiate key positions to lock in ODM’s support.

Even as the President battles on how to satisfy both Mt Kenya and ODM interests, his lieutenants claim that a formal 2027 cooperation pact between UDA and ODM is imminent.

They frame the overtures as part of Ruto’s wider plan to consolidate national support and neutralise emerging resistance blocs.

According to Soy MP David Kiplagat, the once fierce rivals are exploring a joint path toward 2027.

“There will be another coalition between UDA and the ODM, and the President will contest on that ticket,” Kiplagat said.

Former nominated MP Wilson Sossion, a known Ruto ally, has also made the UDA—ODM coalition claims, insisting that President William Ruto will be the new coalition’s joint presidential candidate.

“When the President moved out of ODM to form URP, he fashioned a party similar to ODM, which eventually evolved into UDA. When you look at the philosophies of UDA and ODM, they are the same: social democratic parties. The President is at home, and so are the members of ODM with this engagement,” Sossion said.

“Going into 2027, UDA and ODM will be in partnership, and the presidential candidate for that coalition will be President William Ruto, who will be re-elected.”

Dennis Onyango - a long-serving Raila spokesman – also agrees with those calling for a UDA-ODM coalition, arguing the ODM party is incapable of mounting a serious presidential challenge on its own.

Speaking to the Star, Onyango noted that ODM must accept the shifting winds and acknowledge that the 2025 – 2027 deal guiding its engagement with Ruto’s administration leaves little room for preparing for a meaningful presidential contest.  

“This idea that ODM can flip-flop around and then make a decision in 2027 is a recipe for failure - in my view. ODM has to decide now whether it wants to go with William Ruto or Rigathi Gachagua and start those negotiations. Going lone is not an option unless they want to run just for the sake of running,” Onyango said.

“I also believe strongly, I know this does not please very many people, I don’t believe we have a candidate.

“Raila told me once that he worked with Presidents Moi, Kibaki and Uhuru and now working with Ruto. He told me that he thought Ruto was more focused of all the presidents he had worked with, so there was a strong possibility that he was going to back him (Ruto); he just didn’t want ODM to go in there as a weak partner.”

Onyango’s remarks mirror the feeling within a growing faction within ODM leadership who are convinced that the party’s best interest lies in backing President Ruto’s 2027 re-election bid.

“ODM will either form government or be part of the coalition forming the government. We will never be in the opposition again,” ODM national chairperson Gladys Wanga said.

Meanwhile, the party on Friday continued with its sector discussions in Mombasa as a build-up for Saturday where President Ruto among other founding members will address.

Some of the founding members who were invited include retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, former Tourism minister Najib Balala and ex-Tinderet MP and founding chairman Henry Kosgey.

Uhuru’s spokesperson Kanze Dena on Wednesday told the Star the former President will not attend the Mombasa meeting.

The Mombasa celebration is meant to celebrate the outfit’s 20 years of existence as well as honour party founder Raila Odinga.

On Friday, the ODM teams held sectoral meetings to deliberate on specific challenges affecting each category.

The categories were : Orange Disability League, Women Convention and Youth League Convention.

The Party’s National Governing Council also met late Thursday and ratified the appointment of Oburu Oginga as the new party leader.

The Siaya senator was named as acting party leader on October 16, 2025, by the National Executive Council following Raila's demise.

The council also approved Wanga as the substantive national chairperson and Abdulswamad Nassir, Simba Arati and Godfrey Osotsi as the deputy party leaders.

The leaders will now officially assume office after approval by the party’s National Delegates Convention, which is set to convene next year.