ODM Is Not a Family Affair, Says Jaoko Oburu Amid Post-Raila Divisions

Jaoko Oburu, Special Advisor on Economic Empowerment and Sustainable Livelihoods in the Executive Office of the President, weighed in on the intensifying divisions within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), asserting that the party remains a national institution built by the Kenyan people.

In a statement on X, Oburu, a seasoned public servant and son of Senator Oburu Odinga, said ODM was forged “by sweat, pain and resilience of Kenyan people” and not the preserve of any single individual or community. 

His comments come as party units across the country have reported leadership disputes and factional tensions following the death of former party leader Raila Odinga, whose legacy continues to shape ODM’s trajectory.

“ODM is a national party that has been built, brick by brick, through the silent sacrifices of mothers in the villages, the weary hands of workers in the cities, and the courageous stand of ordinary citizens who shared similar principles with the ODM party,” Oburu wrote. 

He emphasised that the party “belongs to the Kenyan people” and urged members to uphold the organisation’s constitution and founding values.

Oburu’s remarks reveals growing concern among some party elders that internal contestations risk eroding the broad base ODM cultivated over nearly two decades as a central opposition and reform platform.