Former Cabinet Assistant Secretary (CAS) David Osiany has urged the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party to abolish the Linda Ground and Linda Mwanachi factions and settle on Linda Chama as a way of quelling escalating wrangles within the party.

While speaking during an interview on SPM Buzz on Friday, February 28, 2026, the outspoken leader said that with both camps having genuine concerns and each trying to protect the legacy of the late former prime minister, they should relinquish their differences and find common ground, which in his view should be aimed at protecting the party.

He further added that the common stand should be informed by what the party has stood for since its inception: the values, the ideals, and its DNA. This, he said, should guide the party, which now seems to be pulled in different directions by each team.

He continued to explain that the late Raila Odinga was a believer in generational mix, which is why, according to Osiany, both young and old leaders were given leadership opportunities in the ODM party.

“When it gets there, I say, let’s go back to Linda Chama or Linda ODM. What does our party stand for? What’s our DNA? What’s our identity? Once we do that, let’s find a common ground. Raila was a great believer in generational mix”, he said.

Oburu-Sifuna ODM feud

This comes at a time when Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna-led Linda Mwanachi has refused to follow the Oburu Odinga-led Linda Ground team into forming a coalition pact with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party, arguing that this was not the stand of the late leader at the time of his death.

Saboti MP, an integral member of Linda Mwanachi, has urged his team leader Edwin Sifuna to wrestle control of the party from Oburu, stating that the wrangles between the two have degenerated into a full-blown political war and that it’s time for Sifuna to fight and take over the party from the Siaya senator.

The Oburu-led Linda Ground movement, on their side, believes that Raila Odinga left them in government and that his plan was for the ODM party to support Ruto in 2027.

This has prompted a rebuttal from the Sifuna-led team, which argues that they were supposed to maintain a working relationship aimed at stabilising the govt post Gen Z protests until 2027 and not beyond, as claimed by the Oburu group.

Orengo’s ODM view

Siaya Governor James Orengo, who is also part of the Sifuna team, has come out to express his opposition to the Oburu faction, insisting that the party must have a presidential candidate and should not support UDA.

He stated that there is no way ODM, as large as it is, has no one to front as its presidential flagbearer.

Sifuna, on his part, has retaliated, saying that the late leader said that if anyone claims ODM will not field a presidential candidate, they should ask him who told them so.