Dennis Onyango, former aide to the late ODM leader Raila Odinga, has explained why the late leader never endorsed a preferred successor to take over after his demise.

Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, Onyango said that despite not naming anyone to inherit his position in the party, Raila left institutions and party organs that he trusted deeply, knowing they would decide the fate of the party and who should take over.

Onyango further stated that Raila believed a leader would naturally emerge from the people.

“Raila Odinga had no preferred successor; he left it open, and he thought a leader would emerge, but the same Raila Odinga set up party institutions of the party, and he believed in those institutions,” Onyango stated.

Since Raila was never formally endorsed, nor did anyone publicly hold his hand as a preferred successor, Onyango further argued that the late Raila Odinga believed it would have been a disservice to his supporters to handpick or impose a successor.

According to him, Raila chose instead to allow a leader to emerge organically from within the party, with the support of the structures and organs he had helped establish and deeply believed in, to take over leadership after his demise.

“He assumed that a leader should emerge from the people; that since nobody held his hand, and maybe he thought it would be a disservice to his supporters to hold somebody’s hand, he wanted a situation where leaders with the help of institutions would emerge to lead his people,” he added.

As one of the closest people around Raila during his lifetime, Onyango dismissed ongoing claims by some who say the late leader gave them instructions on the 2027 General Election. He emphasised that Raila never made any such statements.

ODM wrangles

This comes at a time when the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is facing internal challenges following Raila’s death. Two factions have emerged: one led by the party leader, Oburu Odinga, and the other led by the party’s embattled secretary general Edwin Sifuna, who was recently ousted but reinstated by the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal (PPDT).

The Oburu-led faction is adamant about supporting President William Ruto in 2027 and entering a coalition with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

This is opposed by the Sifuna-led faction, which argues that this was not Raila’s vision and that ODM, being a major party, has the capacity to field its own presidential candidate rather than supporting Ruto. They recall Raila’s words: if anyone says ODM will not have a president in 2027, ask them who told them.

Both factions have formed separate ground mobilisation teams: the Oburu-led team runs the Linda Ground Forum, while the Sifuna-led team operates ODM Linda Wanchi.