Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi has stated that the Linda Mwananchi movement controls 30 counties in Kenya.

Speaking during a radio interview on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, the outspoken former Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) deputy party leader also stated that the Linda Mwananchi movement rose as a result of being sidelined by their former Linda Ground rivals.

According to the Vihiga gubernatorial hopeful, their control of 30 counties is what made the then Oburu Odinga-led Linda Ground pause their countrywide meetings. He said that while they were only meeting party delegates, the Linda Mwananchi team was attracting support within and outside the party.

After suspending their meetings, Osotsi now says that the Oburu Odinga–Gladys Wanga faction has resorted to holding youth conventions across the country so as to remain relevant. He has also termed their rivals as flip-floppers who never finish anything and keep shifting their goalposts.

“Unajua wale Linda Ground wanashika kitu kidogo, wanaachia kwa barabara. Walianzisha hio mikutano ya delegates, wakagundua kuwa Linda Mwananchi kati ya kaunti 47, Linda Mwananchi inacontrol county 30,” Osotsi said.

Tifa ranking

Osotsi’s remarks come days after a TIFA poll placed the Linda Mwananchi movement at 73 per cent nationwide support, higher than their rivals, Linda Ground, which stood at 23 per cent support across the country.

The poll ranking made some leaders within the ODM party drawn from the Western region take a swipe at the rising popularity of the Edwin Sifuna-led Linda Mwananchi faction.

Among them is Cabinet Secretary for Co-operatives and SMEs Wycliffe Oparanya, who recently decried that the ouster of Sifuna from the ODM party has made campaigning for President William Ruto a difficult task.

On the other side, Lurambi MP Titus Khamala has also jumped into the debate, saying that if the ODM party does not take caution, President William Ruto will look for the Edwin Sifuna team for coalition talks instead of the Oburu team, as he is interested in re-election and numbers.

ODM Chairperson Gladys Wanga has urged members of her faction, Linda Ground, to drop the name and fully adopt ODM going forward. According to her, they cannot continue identifying themselves as a splinter group while they hold the official party documents and instruments.

Linda Mwananchi’s next move

Despite the Linda Mwananchi faction continuing to excite supporters and draw large crowds, it is now facing growing public questions about its end goal and who it will field as its flagbearer in the 2027 General Election.

To address this, the faction has stated that it will hold a retreat in three weeks’ time after a grand rally in Migori to give Kenyans direction on its next course of action.