By Kepher Otieno - Reporter
Kenya, 19 December 2025 - ODM leaders led by party leader Dr Oburu Odinga has signaled a strategic shift in ODM politics, declaring, “I will not fall. I am steadfast in the ODM leadership you bestowed upon me, and nothing will shake me.”
Speaking at the burial of former KBC Mayienga head Festus Amimo in Awasi village, Oburu framed his leadership as resolute and his party’s future as one defined by unity and pragmatic engagement with President William Ruto’s government, marking a notable departure from ODM’s traditional stance of opposition.
“I will not fall. I am steadfast in the ODM leadership you bestowed upon me, and nothing will shake me," Oburu declared, his words cutting through the solemnity of a funeral gathering in Awasi village and landing squarely in the heart of Kenya’s political conversation.
Oburu was not merely defending his authority within ODM; he was announcing a political posture anchored in unity, discipline and pragmatic engagement with power.
Oburu’s remarks amounted to a clear signal that ODM’s traditional opposition script is being rewritten.
Urging the Luo community to support President William Ruto’s government despite not having voted for it, he framed cooperation as political maturity rather than ideological surrender. “We did not vote for this government, but it is our government,” he said, calling on supporters to move past electoral disappointment and focus on securing influence through engagement.
Central to his argument was the recognition of political reality. Oburu emphasized that power, once constituted, must be confronted with strategy rather than bitterness.
He openly acknowledging Ruto’s presidency, he sought to lower emotional resistance among ODM supporters and reposition the party as a rational actor capable of negotiating its place within the state. In this framing, acceptance becomes a precondition for relevance.
His praise for President Ruto’s inclusion of Luos in government was deliberate and political.
And by portraying the move as an honourable gesture, Oburu sought to legitimize ODM’s cooperation with the ruling administration.
The message was subtle but firm: engagement is not capitulation, and inclusion is not charity, but a political exchange that ODM can leverage for development and influence.
Oburu was equally emphatic about internal party discipline.
He called on ODM members who had defected to return and reaffirmed his firm grip on the party’s leadership.
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His declaration that nothing would cow him from steering ODM toward greater prosperity was a direct response to unease within the party over its warming relations with government. It was also a warning against fragmentation, signaling that ODM’s engagement strategy would be centralized and cohesive.
The setting of the remarks added symbolic weight. In Luo society, funerals are more than moments of mourning as they are also arenas of communal consensus-building.
By choosing this platform to call for humility and unity, Oburu fused party loyalty with communal responsibility, suggesting that political division weakens both ODM and the wider Luo voice in national affairs.
Nyando MP Jared Okello reinforced this message with an equally candid assessment. “We must stop fighting the government and start negotiating as a united party,” Okello said, urging Oburu to reach out to all factions within ODM and consolidate the party under one leadership.
His remarks underscored the strategic logic that engagement only yields results when it is anchored in internal cohesion.
Okello’s intervention highlighted the cost of factionalism. ODM’s past internal splits, he implied, have often eroded its bargaining power and blurred its ideological direction.
A divided party, he warned, cannot negotiate effectively with the state. Unity, in this sense, is not a sentimental ideal but a practical requirement for influence in a political system that rewards coherence and numbers.
Together, the statements by Oburu and Nyando MP Jared Okello point to a broader recalibration of ODM’s political strategy. The shift is away from emotive resistance toward calculated engagement, from protest politics to negotiated relevance. This does not mark the abandonment of opposition identity, but its redefinition in a political environment where proximity to power increasingly determines outcomes.
The ultimate test of this approach will be delivery. Tangible development gains, meaningful representation in government, and policy influence will determine whether ODM supporters accept engagement as a credible alternative to confrontation. For now, Oburu has firmly positioned himself as the steward of this new direction—steadfast in leadership, unapologetic about negotiation, and determined to anchor ODM’s future in unity and pragmatic politics.
