Justina Wamae explains why ODM has survived for 20 years despite not winning presidential election
By Kiprono Keileb, November 16, 2025Former Roots Party presidential running mate Justina Wamae has issued a sharp assessment of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and explained why it has survived that long.
In a reflective message posted on X on Sunday, November 16, 2025, Wamae used the analogy of energy to explain how political parties rise or fall depending on their ability to deliver change.
“In Kenya, when a political party wins an election, that is kinetic energy, energy in motion, seen in their success or failure to deliver,” Wamae noted.
She added that even parties that do not win still carry hope among citizens, describing them as political groups that store beliefs and expectations for the future.
“But if the political party does not win an election, that is potential energy: stored energy. Kenyans still have hopes that those who have not won MIGHT be successful in delivery,” Wamae added.
According to Wamae, ODM managed to survive for two decades because supporters believed in its promise of leading Kenyans to what she called Canaan. However, she argued that this hope collapsed the moment the party embraced the handshake and joined the government.
“Chungwa has survived 20 years because of the perceived potential energy of taking Kenyans to Canaan, but having joined a handshake bread-based mongrel kinder government, this is definitely the end of the road,” the statement reads.
Wamae said ODM’s role in government has exposed what she calls “half kinetic energy”, a form of power that benefits leaders while leaving ordinary citizens behind.
“Kenyans have seen their half of the kinetic energy because they are in government: their own Canaan, but they forgot to take Kenyans with them; hence, they left Kenyans to languish in Kenya,” she stated.
She concluded by suggesting that this behaviour reflects what a fully empowered ODM government would look like, stating, “An indication of what they would do if they were fully kinetic energy,” she added.
Her remarks add to ongoing national debates about party identity, political consistency, and whether long-standing movements like ODM still represent the ambitions of their supporters in a changing political climate.