Tensions play out in ODM despite calls for unity in 20-year-old party

ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna addresses mourners during the funeral service of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in Bondo, on October 19, 2025. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

It was an event to mark the final day on earth for the man who nurtured them and brought them under one roof — the ODM party. A majestic send-off for a titan who built one of the most dominant parties in the country’s multi-party era.

Yet if the speeches by some of the late Raila Odinga’s allies are anything to go by, a turbulent future may await the 20-year-old party as members grapple with the reality of Raila’s absence.