Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga has defended President William Ruto against mounting calls for his removal, asserting that the Head of State will serve his full term and that any change of leadership must only come through constitutional means.

Speaking in Siaya County on Sunday, August 31, 2025, Oburu dismissed the chants of “Ruto must go” that have featured in recent protests, insisting that the Constitution provides only five avenues for a sitting president to leave office.

“Mr. President, we want you to continue. We don’t want to engage too much in the future talks about Ruto must go, Ruto must go, Ruto must go. Ruto is going nowhere,” Oburu stated.

Removing Ruto

The Senator outlined the possible circumstances under which a president could leave office, emphasising that none applied to Ruto at the moment.

“Ruto is going nowhere because there are only five ways you can remove a president. First, either he resigns or he dies. If he doesn’t die, he is defeated in an election. And if he is not defeated in an election, then something attacks his brain, he becomes a vulture. And none of those things exist with a president,” he said.

Oburu pointed to Ruto’s good health and political standing as evidence that none of the removal mechanisms are applicable at this time.

“The president is very healthy and is there. If you want to remove him, wait for 2027, and all of us are there. So we are all Kenyans. Let us work together. Let us build bridges and let us see what comes and who comes out,” he remarked.

Gen Z movement

The Senator jokingly aligned himself with the younger generation that has been vocal in recent political protests, styling himself as part of their movement.

“Because me, Mr. President, I’m also a Gen Z. That’s why I’m called youth leader,” Oburu quipped, drawing cheers from the crowd.

ODM support

Speaking during the same event, Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi reaffirmed ODM’s commitment to supporting Ruto, declaring that the party’s legislators have no intention of abandoning their cooperation under the Broad-based arrangement with the Kenya Kwanza administration in the foreseeable future.

Atandi credited the day’s sermon message about national unity for reinforcing ODM’s approach to working with the current administration.

“I want to agree with you that this is the trajectory that we took as members of the ODM party, and that is why we are with the president and working together with him,” he stated.

“We do not intend to abandon the president in the near future, because we think that would be contrary to your message of today,” Atandi added.