ODM Party Leader Oburu Odinga and Treasury CS John Mbadi
have ruled out any political deal with the Mt Kenya region, arguing that such
arrangements have repeatedly failed since independence.
Speaking to ODM delegates in Kisumu on Sunday, Oburu said
past efforts by Luo leaders, led by Kenya’s founding Vice President Jaramogi
Oginga Odinga, to build political partnerships with the Kikuyu political elite
had never yielded meaningful reciprocity.
“We have tried several times, but it has never worked,”
Oburu said, urging the region to continue working with President William Ruto.
ODM party insiders have increasingly portrayed leaders
gravitating towards the emerging opposition movement as pursuing a possible
alliance with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Oburu recalled the difficult discussions he and Raila Odinga
held with Luo elders ahead of the 2002 General Election when they backed the
late President Mwai Kibaki.
“When we were having conversations with the Luo elders, they
said, ‘Oburu, you are a stupid boy. How can you bring us another Kikuyu? You
don’t know what these people did to your father,’” he recalled.
“But we said this one [Kibaki] is different. It’s Jaramogi
who got him from Makerere and introduced him to politics. He would be
different. But we were wrong.”
Mbadi traced what he termed a long history of political
betrayal against Luo leaders by the Mt Kenya political establishment.
He said after Jaramogi declined to take power at
independence and instead backed Jomo Kenyatta to become Kenya’s founding
President, he was later pushed out of government.
“He didn’t even finish two years. He was arrested and
jailed. He was sleeping in prison cells in deplorable conditions… Jaramogi died
cursing the evil that was done to him,” Mbadi said.
Mbadi further claimed that in the early 1990s, when the late
President Daniel arap Moi cracked down on Kikuyu politicians, they sought
political refuge in Jaramogi’s Ford party but later frustrated his presidential
ambitions in the 1992 election.
“Jaramogi’s Ford was so strong that KANU was shaken… When
they saw that, they went for a Matiba who was still unwell to contest. Jaramogi
was only asking them for two years,” he said.
Mbadi also revisited the political tensions during the
administration of former President Uhuru Kenyatta, saying many young Luo
supporters were killed while agitating for electoral justice.
“We have tried and begged for the friendship since 1963, but
it’s not working,” Mbadi said, likening the pursuit to chasing “a beautiful
woman who has no feelings for you”.
On internal ODM wrangles, Oburu warned that the rebel wing
associated with Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna could not expect to retain senior
party positions if they returned.
“In a democracy, there must be discipline. You cannot go
against party decisions… If they return, they will not start from the top,” he
said.
Oburu also dismissed claims that age had weakened him
politically.
“I can assure you I am not weak. Old is gold,” he said.
He announced that ODM’s pre-election coalition agreement
with the United Democratic Alliance would be concluded before the end of 2026.
“We are not ashamed to say we want power because there is no
way you can get development without power,” he said.
The ODM chairman also criticised the “Ruto must go”
political slogan, saying ODM would not focus its politics on removing an
individual from office.
He disclosed that he was engaging President Ruto and Mbadi
on possible interventions to lower fuel prices, while attributing rising global
energy costs to geopolitical tensions and international conflicts.
“He [President Trump] started by plucking the President of
Venezuela from bed with the wife,” Oburu said.