Kisii County Senator Richard Onyonka has called on party members who are leading the talks to have a pact between the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) to consider exiting the ODM and be free to join the government-led side.

Speaking during an interview at a local TV Station on Tuesday, February,10,2026, Onyonka has said that if the members of the ODM allied to President Ruto’s side are so much into supporting his reelection bid should consider joining his UDA party and let those who want to remain with the ODM party remain to steer the party’s agenda.

“What we are telling them is, move out and join UDA for some of us who want to remain in ODM, leave us to stay in ODM. This was Raila’s dream. Raila never said that the party he was holding would not form the government,” Onyonka said.

The Kisii senator has said that the former Prime Minister and the ODM party Leader, the late Raila Odinga’s dream and aim was to keep the ODM party strong and never wished the country to get back to a one-party system.

Senator Onyonka and a faction of ODM leaders have been outspoken about the decision by a section of the party leadership led by the Party Leader, Oburu Odinga enter into a pact with the UDA Party. They have opposed the move, saying that ODM has to remain as an independent party.

ODM divisions

The faction opposing the pact between ODM and UDA, led by the Nairobi senator and the ODM party’s Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, has led to a bitter power struggle in the Orange Democratic Movement, with the faction driving an initiative dubbed the Linda Mwananchi tour to counter the party leader Oburu Oginga’s Linda Ground movement.

The members allied to the Sifuna-led side include Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka, Vihiga’s Godfrey Osotsi, Nyamira’s Erick Okong’o Mogeni, and National Assembly members Babu Owino (Embakasi East), Caleb Amisi (Saboti), Wanami Wamboka (Bumula), Patrick Makau (Mavoko), Joshua Kimilu (Kaiti), and Majimbo Kalasinga (Kabuchai).

Speaking in Busia County on Sunday, February,8,2026 during their first rally, the Linda Mwanachi faction said that ODM must remain independent and prepare to form the next government on its own terms.

The group argues that alliances with the ruling party would strip ODM of its identity and reduce it to a junior partner.

They insist that ODM has always contested elections independently and should continue that tradition. According to the faction, abandoning this path would betray the party’s history and the principles Raila Odinga defended for decades.

The Linda Mwananchi tour seeks to mobilise grassroots supporters and reconnect the party with its base. They say ODM must focus on its own agenda rather than short-term political deals that could dilute its influence.