Kabando: Junet, ODM bigwigs scapegoating Uhuru to please Ruto
By Mustafa Juma, December 29, 2025Former Mukurweini MP Kabando wa Kabando has launched a scathing attack on senior Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leaders, accusing them of scapegoating retired President Uhuru Kenyatta to curry favour with President William Ruto ahead of the 2027 General Election.
In a hard-hitting statement shared via his official X account on Monday, December 29, 2025, Kabando singled out National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed, alongside party figures such as Homa Bay Governor, who doubles as the Orange party’s national chairperson, Gladys Wanga, Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo, and Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma, accusing them of dishonesty and political betrayal.
Kabando dismissed claims by Junet that Uhuru failed Raila in the 2022 race, arguing that ODM insiders were themselves responsible for internal failures within the Azimio coalition.
“Junet is blaming Rais Uhuru for Raila’s 2022 defeat. He should, easily, recall himself as a boisterous controller of BBI moneybags,” Kabando’s statement reads in part.
BBI campaigns
He further claimed that Junet had become an “imported untouchable” in Mt Kenya during the BBI campaign period, presiding over presidential events with arrogance while alienating local leaders and grassroots supporters.
“Even in our very own Mt Kenya villages, Junet was the imported, untouchable, condescending presidential events manager (MC), just as he had infamously starred at the Bomas BBI charade,” Kabando wrote on X.
Uhuru unfairly blamed
According to the former MP, Uhuru Kenyatta was unfairly blamed despite having been sidelined and politically weakened by ODM leaders, whom he claims “milked him dry” while securing powerful parliamentary committee positions that alienated him from his own party MPs.
Kabando maintained that while Uhuru could have done more for Raila in Mt Kenya, the blame-shifting currently underway is a deliberate attempt to sanitise ODM leaders who are now edging closer to President Ruto.
“He knows the crooks ate Azimio agents’ money? I am not here to defend Uhuru because I truly know he would have done much better for Raila in our region, but the attacks on him by Junet, Wanga, Mbandi, Kaluma et al., buoyed by cheeky Ruto smiles, smirks dishonesty. These ODM guys milked Uhuru dry, incl being rigged into parliamentary committees’ chieftaincy, alienating him from his own party MPs,” Kabando stated.
Hostility against Raila
He warned that ODM leaders should not forget Ruto’s long history of hostility toward Raila Odinga, describing the President as unchanged in character.
Kabando further argued that ODM, without Raila Odinga, whom he described as a “nationalistic magnet”, is a shadow of its former self, adding that progressive forces would ultimately inherit the remnants of the party.
He also condemned what he termed a pattern of scapegoating within ODM, recalling how former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka were previously blamed at different moments when Raila’s campaigns faltered.
“Ruto is still the same Ruto; Liar, MisUser, Looter who hated Raila to the core. ODM is never the same without Agwambo – progressives will carry the better portion of what remains of a debris. Jakom was a real Enigma, a nationalistic MAGNET. Blaming Uhuru, after scapegoating Gachagua, just like how they blamed Kalonzo while Mzee RAO was unwell, is simply missing the salient truthful point to surrogate Ruto. In any case, if they have chosen to cohabit Ruto, who hated, ridiculed, insulted, derided, and mocked Raila Odinga, who are they to determine for others who they should associated with?” he stated.