Oburu maintains a hard stance against opposition ahead of coalition talks
By Emmanuel Rono, March 20, 2026Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Oburu Oginga has reiterated his commitment to negotiate with President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ahead of the August 2027 elections.
Speaking on Friday, March 20, 2026, during an Eid luncheon in Kisumu State Lodge, Oburu stated that he is more comfortable with forming a political pact with UDA following the success of the broad-based government than looking for shareholders.
He explained that the arrangement has yielded a lot of progress and development projects in the ODM regions.
“We are sitting down here with power. How can I leave power to go and look for shareholders? People who are dividing this country through shareholding?” Oburu asked.
Settle for Known Allies
Oburi said that the ODM will not leave the broad-based government and settle for unknown allies. He maintained that they are settling on the known broad-based partnership with Ruto and that they are going to negotiate with UDA before the 2027 general election.
“We are negotiating with him. We are not going to go out of this arrangement called broad-based and start looking for the unknown. First, you start with the known, then go on to the unknown later, after you have gone to see your Lord,” Oburu declared.
Senator Oburu threw his weight behind President Ruto, dismissed the verbal assaults from United Opposition leaders, and signalled a widening rift within the former opposition bloc.
“I know that you have been abused for a long time, but I did not know that you were keeping those ‘guns’ somewhere. Now that you have released them, people are crying,” Oburu stated.
Ruto on broad-based negotiating team
President William Ruto, while speaking during the ODM-UDA Joint Broad-based Parliament Group Meeting on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, proposed the formation of a broad-based negotiating team to oversee the full implementation of the joint United Democratic Alliance (UDA)-Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) agenda.
Ruto said that the broad-based team comprises members from both parliaments.
“We will be recommending in this PG that we have a broad-based negotiating team comprising members from both parliaments,” Ruto said
Opposition Leaders on Broad-Based govt
Siaya Governor James Orengo, during an interview on March 9, 2026, sharply criticised the broad-based government, calling it a structure with no legal or substantive foundation and denying that it was ever genuinely created by the former ODM party leader, late Raila Odinga.
“You know, the broad-based government is based on nothing. There’s no agreement. There’s nothing,” Orengo said.
Orengo emphasised that a group of individuals independently negotiated positions in government, warning they would occupy those roles even without party backing.