A Year After Raila Odinga's Death, Kenya's Opposition Is Divided
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), the party Raila Odinga led for decades, is divided over whether to keep working with President William Ruto's government, one year after his death. Al Jazeera reported on October 21, 2026 that the split exposes differing views on the party's identity and independence.
Odinga died in October 2025 at the age of 80. According to the hospital in Kochi, India, where he died, he had suffered a cardiac arrest while receiving medical treatment abroad. Reuters reported his death at the time.
Odinga had contested Kenya's presidency repeatedly. He lost the 2017 election to Uhuru Kenyatta, and the Supreme Court later nullified the results. In 2022 he lost narrowly to Ruto, his fifth loss in five attempts at the presidency. He accepted the Supreme Court's decision upholding that result but disagreed with it. He had blamed several earlier defeats on rigging, and those disputes had triggered violence.
After the 2022 vote, Odinga led nationwide opposition demonstrations calling for Ruto to resign. In April 2023 he suspended biweekly protests over soaring living costs and the alleged rigging of the 2022 election, pending talks.
In 2024, Odinga decided to work with Ruto amid nationwide protests against a finance bill, a proposed law on government revenue and spending. Some critics described the move as delayed. Odinga said it had averted a slide into full-blown civil war after more than 1,200 people died, according to TRT Afrika.
The current dispute is sharpest within the party's leadership. ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna has been removed from his post, having opposed closer cooperation with Ruto. Around October 18, 2026, ODM leaders declared that the party will back Ruto's re-election in 2027 but will fight to win all other seats, The Star reported.
At a re-election rally in Eldoret, Ruto defended the partnership between his party and the ODM. He said it had united Kenyans across the political divide and accelerated equitable development, according to Nation.
Political analyst Herman Manyora said Kenya's opposition is in disarray and lacks a figure people can rally around since Odinga's death.
