Kasmuel McOure explains Raila Odinga’s proposed structure for National Conclave
By Mabonga Makhanu, August 5, 2025Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) youth activist Kasmuel McOure has come out to share how Raila Odinga wants the national conclave to be conducted.
While speaking during an interview on a local radio station on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, McOure, who is close to the former Prime Minister, stated that Raila has proposed a specific structure for how the national conclave should be organised.
He explained that Raila wants the process to begin at the grassroots level, with representatives drawn from all 47 counties.
According to McOure, Raila insists that 50 per cent of the participants must be youth, while the remaining 50 per cent should represent the older generation.
“Raila has specified how he wants the conclave to happen and its dialogue process, and personally, I am in for it, and I am campaigning for it. He says the conclave must have representatives from all 47 countries; they organise at grassroots levels, but 50 per cent of the participants must be youth, and 50 per cent are of other generations. They need to sit down, come up with resolutions, and we make it into a national process,” Kasmuel stated.
County level
McOure added that these county-level representatives should sit down, deliberate, and come up with resolutions that will eventually form the foundation of a national process.
He said this approach would allow even someone in a far-flung area like Marsabit, who may not have access to national platforms, to have a voice. The goal, he explained, is to collect ideas from every county and merge them into a single national conversation, a melting pot of perspectives and solutions.
McOure dismissed the perception that Kenya has had continuous national dialogues. According to him, the country has only had one true national dialogue, the one that produced the 2010 Constitution and the Grand Coalition Government.
While there have been other dialogues over the years, McOure noted that they were never implemented due to the lack of political goodwill.
Raila’s motive
He emphasised that Kenya is at a point where it needs another “2010 moment”. While the Constitution itself is strong, McOure argued that the real issue lies in its poor implementation.
He made it clear that the push for dialogue is not about creating a political position for Raila Odinga, stating that Raila does not need any such position at this stage. McOure based this assertion on his close relationship with Raila and his understanding of the former prime minister’s intentions.
“We have reached a point where we need a 2010 moment because we have a very good constitution, but it’s not being implemented. We are not here to say we want to have dialogue to have a position for Raila Odinga; what position does he need now? And I can say this because I spent a lot of time with him; he does not need anything from it,” he added.
McOure concluded by saying that he supports the national conclave or dialogue because, unlike past efforts, this one has mass support and the political goodwill of the most influential political figure in the country.