Kenya: Oburu to ODM Dissidents - Choose Your Side or Leave

What the report says

ODM leader and Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga has urged party members who oppose the party’s cooperation with President William Ruto to either publicly choose a side or leave, according to a Capital FM report distributed by AllAfrica. He made the comments in Naivasha during a broad-based government meeting, where he defended ODM’s decision to work with Ruto’s administration after the parties were rivals in the 2022 election.

The remarks highlight widening internal tensions inside ODM ahead of the 2027 General Election. The report says the party is split between figures who support the working arrangement with Ruto and those who want ODM to remain more clearly in opposition. The dispute has been especially visible in the public back-and-forth between Oburu and former ODM secretary-general Edwin Sifuna, as well as in disagreements involving other legislators and younger party figures.

Oburu framed the cooperation with government as a pragmatic response after ODM failed to win the presidency in 2022. He also argued that the party remains strong, organized and rooted at the grassroots, contrasting it with what he described as temporary political outfits that appear around elections. The broader significance is that ODM must now balance influence inside government with the risk of weakening its opposition identity as it prepares for the next election cycle.