Lawyer and political analyst Harrison Kinyanjui has come out to state that the Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) adamancy to have a coalition agreement with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) shows how weak the party has started to become.

While speaking during a morning show on a local TV station on Tuesday, January 13, 2025, the analyst stated that the recent move by ODM to maintain that it must be in a coalition agreement with the UDA party shows that the strength the party has had for the two decades it has been in existence, since its inception in 2005, is slowly fading.

ODM losing its Identity

According to Kinyanjui, ODM, which has established itself as a people’s defender and a champion for democracy, has now concentrated on coalition pacts instead of championing the needs of the local populace, something that has been synonymous with the party over the years.

“When you see this desperation by odm that they must be in the next govt with a coalition agreement, it shows that they are going in bed with UDA. You must decide what you people want but we will be in govt.”

“The coalition agreement that ODM are signing with UDA is coming from a point of weakness because the average person across the board is suffering financially and socially.”

Kinyanjui’s view almost mirrors that of Siaya Governor James Orengo, who stated that when ODM enters into a coalition agreement with UDA, it loses its identity and DNA. He added that it also risks being reduced to a Luo or regional party, stripping it of the national outlook that the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga built over the years.

ODM’s pre-coalition talks

This follows the ODM Central Management Committee (CMC) meeting in Vipingo, Kilifi County, which was led by Oburu Odinga. Among the many issues discussed, a key resolution was that the party should begin pre-coalition talks with other parties, particularly President William Ruto’s UDA, to determine how ODM will position itself for 2027.

The party is now set to commence public engagements, with the first public rally scheduled to take place in Kibra within the week. These engagements will culminate in a National Delegate Conference (NDC), the party’s highest decision-making body, which will formally endorse the outcomes of the engagements and the party leader’s position.

ODM MPS supporting the move

This move was also welcomed and rubber-stamped by a section of MPs drawn from the Orange Democratic Movement, led by Ruaraka MP Tom Joseph Kajwang, Makadara MP George Aladwa, Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma, and others.

They praised the decision while warning Secretary General Edwin Sifuna that he risks losing his SG position should he fail to toe the party line.

Eddy Oketch has also come out to support the resolve by his Orange Party to begin pre-coalition talks with the UDA party.