Kenya's Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) faces a test of its opposition role before the 2027 election as party leaders debate cooperation with President William Ruto following former Prime Minister Raila Amolo Odinga's death.
Odinga died in India on Oct. 15, 2025. ODM now lists Sen. Oburu Oginga, his elder brother, as party leader and Catherine Omanyo as acting secretary-general. The 2027 vote will be the party's first general election without Odinga's leadership.
The debate over cooperation follows a political shift that began after protests against a Finance Bill in 2024. Ruto started forming a broad-based Cabinet that July. Parliament recorded demands for stronger government accountability and an end to police brutality during debate over the protests.
Ruto and Odinga signed a 10-point cooperation framework on March 7, 2025. Its commitments cover issues including public debt, devolution, corruption and the right to peaceful assembly. Ruto said the agreement was neither a power-sharing arrangement nor a pact for the 2027 election.
A separate dispute has changed ODM's leadership. The Star reported that the party removed Nairobi Sen. Edwin Sifuna as secretary-general on June 22, 2026. On Sept. 10, the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal upheld that decision after finding that Sifuna had been given an opportunity to defend himself, the outlet reported.
Sifuna has opposed closer cooperation with Ruto. The Star reported that rival groups within ODM disagree over whether the party should keep working with his administration. The leadership dispute and the debate over cooperation leave ODM to define how it will exercise its opposition role.
Al Jazeera reported that Omanyo said cooperation must still allow ODM to speak up. The outlet also quoted lawyer and human rights activist Joshua Okayo, who said Odinga's decision to work with Ruto left him feeling betrayed as a member of the younger generation.
The framework sets out policy commitments, while the dispute within ODM concerns how the party should deal with the government that signed them. The 2027 general election is the next national test of ODM under its new leadership.
