Havi to Sifuna: Mourn Raila but do not hesitate to take up ODM leadership
By Faith Lagat, October 27, 2025Former LSK president Nelson Havi has called on Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna to take immediate control of the party, blending empathy for the late Raila Odinga with a firm push for succession.
Havi emphasised that mourning should not delay strategic action and highlighted the risks of hesitation amid internal fractures.
He underscored the urgency of leadership transition.
“Sifuna, stop the mourning. You need to take over power now,” he declared, emphasising that delays could weaken ODM at a time when decisive action is needed to preserve the party’s unity and national stature.
“So yes, mourn Raila Odinga, but you must not hesitate in taking over the leadership of ODM,” he advised.
Also watch: Atandi says, Raila did not groom a successor and that no one in ODM can beat Ruto.
Preventing fragmentation and preserving legacy
Invoking Luhya traditions,Havi explained that ascension to high office requires quick resolve.
“A session to high office does not require hesitation. It doesn’t require hesitation. When the king is killed, even in combat or in illness, the heir apparent must prepare for coronation quickly. In fact, in Luhya tradition, it used to be done before the chief is buried,” he explained.
He painted a stark picture of potential inaction.
“In fact, by right now, they would have congregated at Chungwa House and taken over the leadership of this party.”
He cautioned that failure to act could deepen divisions, predicting that ODM might become confined to Siaya alone.
“It will end up being a party domiciled in Kisumu, Homa Bay, and Migori. And I do not think that is what Raila Odinga decided.”
Havi has revealed that youthful and elected leaders from the Nyanza region want Sifuna to be ejected from the party following the death of leader Raila Odinga, amid sharp disagreements between Sifuna and the top brass over the newly formed working relationship between the Oburu Odinga-led faction and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) in the broader government formation.
However, a section of ODM members, including the national chairperson and Homa Bay County Governor Gladys Wanga, has insisted that the party will continue working with President William Ruto in the broad-based government ahead of the 2027 general election.
Havi also highlighted Odinga’s deliberate grooming of successors.
“And it’s perhaps for that reason, borrowing from him, he jettisoned this deadwood with the expectation that those who look like him when he was youthful will take over the party at the appropriate time and proceed,” he said, suggesting that Sifuna is positioned as a natural heir.