ODM convenes CMC committee meeting to deliberate on pre-coalition talks with UDA
By Mabonga Makhanu, April 16, 2026The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Acting Secretary General Catherine Omanyo has announced that the party’s Central Management Committee (CMC) will meet on Thursday, April 16, 2026, to discuss matters regarding the commencement of pre-coalition talks with their United Democratic Alliance (UDA) counterparts.
While speaking during an interview with a local radio station on Thursday, April 16, 2026, the outspoken Busia Woman Representative stated that there have been concerns among Kenyans about when ODM talks with UDA will begin.
According to her, the Special National Delegates Conference had given the party leader Oburu Odinga, the nod to lead the ODM party in pre-coalition talks with UDA. And it is not right for the ODM leadership to delay when the party’s topmost decision-making organ has already okayed them
“Everybody is asking when will the talks start. We are having a cmc meeting today, to talk on the same; the negotiations have to be soon.”
According to Omanyo, the meeting will deliberate on the issue, and he urged the country to wait for breaking news from ODM as they meet to discuss the way forward on the pre-coalition talks.
She also assured the country that the talks will begin soon.
Precoalition talks proposal
The proposal for ODM to have structured pre-coalition talks with UDA was one of the key deliberations of the CMC meeting in Kilifi.
In response, the UDA party, through its National Governing Council (NGC), during a meeting at State House, also allowed its party leader, William Ruto, to engage other like-minded parties on pre-coalition matters as part of the party’s preparedness for 2027.
When both parties met during the joint parliamentary group meeting between UDA and ODM, held at State House, they agreed to establish an eight-member select committee, with each party nominating four members, comprising executive secretaries, during their discussions.
UDA-ODM pre-coalition talks
The proposed coalition talks have, however, caused wrangles within the ODM party, with some members led by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna opposing the party’s move.
Other leaders, such as Siaya Governor James Orengo, also came out to oppose the proposal vehemently, saying that ODM should not enter into coalition talks with UDA, arguing that it will lose its popularity and risk becoming a Luo party.
Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, on his side, stated that the party could have focused on making itself more popular instead of entering into coalition negotiations.
Other leaders, such as Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga, also rejected the talks, saying that there is no need for haste and emphasising that the party should instead concentrate on strengthening its structures so that when they go to the negotiation table, they do so as a strong party.
Irreducible minimums
The ODM party, through its top leadership, has demanded a number of issues which, according to them, should be an irreducible minimums in the upcoming talks.
They have stated that these irreducible minimums include zoning and the Deputy President slot, insisting that they will settle for nothing less than the second-in-command position.