Siaya Senator and ODM party leader Oburu Odinga has clarified the party’s position ahead of the 2027 General Election, saying that by the end of 2026, the party will decide whether to go it alone or form coalitions with other parties.

In a statement posted on X on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, Oburu emphasised that if ODM contests independently, the party leader will automatically be the presidential candidate.

“Before the end of 2026, we will have clearly known our path and made the necessary arrangements going into 2027,” Oburu Odinga said.

Oburu assured that before the end of 2026, the ODM will have decided if it will field a candidate and if it will make coalitions with other parties.

“Before the end of the year, we will know if we are going it alone as ODM or making coalitions with other parties, and we shall have by that time known who we are going with,” he added.

He was firm about the party’s constitutional rules, pointing out that the presidential candidate is already determined by the party’s constitution.

“If we are going it alone, ODM already has a candidate as stated in the constitution of our party. It is the party leader, and it is the party leader speaking,” Oburu Odinga said.

He warned aspirants seeking the presidency under ODM to consider other parties, saying that the party’s internal rules cannot be bypassed.

“So, anybody preparing themselves to go for presidential elections in ODM, I think they are misplaced. If they want to go for presidential candidacy, they should look for another party because the presidential candidate has already been decided by the party constitution,” he added.

ODM merger with other parties

Oburu Odinga also dismissed suggestions that ODM could be sold or merged into another party, highlighting the party’s strong grassroots presence across Kenya.

“Anybody saying ODM is sold to any other party, then they are daydreaming. ODM is a strong party, and it is not about to be sold, and it will never be sold,” he said.

Oburu added that ODM is too big to be sold and that nobody can afford to buy it, noting that the party’s membership stretches from the grassroots to the top. He went on to dismiss the debate, saying that ODM is here to stay.

“ODM is too big to be sold to anybody. Nobody can afford the party in Kenya because it is going all the way to the grassroots. ODM is not about to be sold. It will be there in 2027,” he added.