Orengo: ODM must have presidential candidate in 2027
By Mabonga Makhanu, January 25, 2026Siaya Governor James Orengo has demanded that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) must have its own presidential candidate in 2027.
While speaking during a church service on Sunday, January 25, 2026, where he was joined by fellow rebels within the ODM party, he stated that there is no way the ODM, which he described as the biggest party in East and Central Africa, can lack a presidential candidate.
He went on to state that there is no way their party can enter into a coalition pact with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) while the UDA has a flagbearer but ODM does not.
“Tunaenda kwa mazungumzo; mtu anakuja na presidential candidate, alafu ODM haina hiyo, itakuwa maajabu. ODM must have a presidential candidate,” he said.
He further stated that he and the rebel team that had accompanied him, led by ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, will traverse the country without fear.
He urged his team that, just as the sermon during their attendance at Kawangarwe PAG had emphasised withstanding the storm, they should persevere against whatever challenges are metered against them, promising that they will triumph in the end.
Opposition to UDA-ODM pact
This comes at a time when he opposes the direction his party, ODM, is taking ahead of 2027, including the party’s decision to enter into a coalition pact with UDA, which was proposed by the party’s Central Management Committee (CMC) and tasked the party leader, Oburu Odinga, to initiate structured talks with UDA.
He has strongly opposed this, stating that he is hesitant that ODM, which has existed for the past 20 years since its inception in 2005, risks being reduced to a regional party.
He also said there should have been no rush for ODM to form coalitions with other parties but rather focus on strengthening its party structures. If ODM were to enter into a coalition pact with UDA, he argued, it should be from a position of strength, acting as the bigger party rather than the one with the weaker hand.
Other figures within the party, such as Geoffrey Osotsi, who also accompanied Orengo to the church service in Kawangarwe, have also come out to oppose the ODM-UDA proposed pact, stating that the party’s priority could have been championing the implementation of the 10-point agenda and not a coalition.
Kisumu Woman Rep Ruth Odinga has also come out to call upon the ODM party to field the presidential candidate, saying that it has all it takes to field one.