Kacheliba MP Titus Lotee has come out to state that the factions between Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Oburu Odinga and East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Winnie Odinga show that the party is more of a family affair than a national entity.

Speaking during an interview with a local media station on Tuesday, January 20, 2025, the Kacheliba lawmaker remarked that the ongoing public spat between Oburu and his niece, Winnie, shows that the ODM party has, since time immemorial, been controlled by the Odinga family, contrary to the belief by many that it is a national party.

According to the Kacheliba lawmaker, the dispute in ODM is boiling down to becoming a family issue rather than a national dispute after Winnie Odinga and her brother, Raila Junior, popped up and held a rally in Kibra.

He further said that this has put a majority of people allied to the ODM party in a difficult situation, forcing them to extricate themselves since it has now become a family matter.

Lotee continued to state that it will be a good lesson to other people who want to form political parties, saying that such parties should be founded on national values and based on nationalism, not on family interests.

“Looking at the factions between Oburu Odinga and Winnie Odinga, it is clear that ODM has been controlled at a family level rather than nationally. This is becoming a family affair, causing disarray. Raila Odinga would not be happy if he woke up today and found that the party is being split by family members,” Titus Lotee, MP for Kacheliba, said.

ODM being a family affair

He further stated that Raila would be very sad if he found that the party he built and led for over two decades is being split by his own family members, instead of being run by Kenyans who believe in the ideals of ODM.

He also argued that ODM is strong at the Coast, in Western Kenya, and in Nyanza, but what is currently being witnessed is a family matter, with leadership differences being brought into the public domain.

Winnie Odinga’s kibra rally

This comes two days after Winnie Odinga, together with her brother Raila Junior, held rallies in Kibra and Kamukunji, days after Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga himself held a similar rally at Kibra Grounds, a historic venue where Raila Odinga often addressed the public whenever he had an important political message to deliver.

Winnie Odinga’s speech at Kibra appeared to oppose the current ODM leadership, where her uncle Oburu is at the helm, questioning the haste that preceded his appointment as party leader following the death of her father, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.