Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga yesterday settled on Kisumu governor Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o to succeed him at the helm of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) as he concentrates on his campaigns to clinch the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship.

The decision to pick Nyong’o was arrived at during a meeting of the party’s Central Committee chaired by Raila and attended by key officials at a Nairobi hotel.

A statement signed by the party’s Secretary General Edwin Sifuna indicated that Nyong’o would henceforth chair the Central Committee meetings, a task exclusively reserved for the party leader.

The decision, Sifuna explained, was aimed at giving Raila time to concentrate on his campaigns for the African Union Commission (AIC) chairmanship whose elections are slated for February next year.

“That in light of the grueling campaign schedule by our Party Leader and the need for him to focus on this, he has designated H.E Peter Anyang Nyong’o, the Governor Kisumu, to Chair any and such meetings of the Central Committee that may become necessary during periods of his absence,” read the statement.

Defacto leader

While the statement did not expressly state that Nyong’o was the de facto acting party leader in Raila’s absence, it was clear that Raila has settled on the Kisumu governor as the first among equals in the party.

Nyong’o had been among several top ODM figures who had been touted to take over from Raila as he embarks on the AUC campaigns, among them Siaya governor James Orengo, his Homa Bay and Kisii counterparts Gladys Wanga and Simba Arati respectively and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino.

Tell-tale signs that the path was being cleared for Prof Nyong’o emerged last month after Raila picked his two former deputies, Wycliffe Oparanya and Hassan Ali Joho to sit in the cabinet, automatically locking them out of the race for the party leadership.

Also locked out of the race was the party’s former national chairman John Mbadi who too was picked to the cabinet, alongside another key figure in the party, them National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi.

With Joho, Oparanya, Mbadi and Wandayi out of the way, Raila then moved to promote Wanga to succeed Mbadi as the party’s national chairperson, while Arati, Mombasa governor Abdulswamad Nassir and Vihiga senator Geoffrey Osotsi were picked as deputy national chairmen.

This left Nyong’o, Orengo and Owino in the running for Raila’s position, at least among those who had declared interest.

Multiple sources privy to yesterday’s meeting revealed that Nyong’o was presented as a non-divisive figure as opposed to either Orengo or Owino, who were deemed to be too “strong-headed and controversial” to be relied on to unite the party during critical moments.

Mature leader

“Nyong’o is more mature, and like Raila, and Orengo, has been in the struggle all through. But unlike Orengo, Nyong’o is more restrained, a calming figure in times of crisis, Orengo at times can get overboard, he is still an opposition firebrand as opposed to a statesman in the league of Baba or Nyong’o,” said the sources.

A section of the party membership also accuse Orengo of opposing Raila’s decision to form a broad based government with Ruto, on grounds that it was destined for collapse in the wake of the anti-government protests led by the Generation Z last months.

Orengo was among key figures within the Orange party who had expressed reservations about Raila agreeing to donate some of his key party leaders to the new look cabinet, effectively calming the heightened political temperatures in the country.

Prior to Nyong’o’s elevation, Owino had put up a spirited pitch for the party to consider hi for the position.

“The party requires rigorous reforms to enable it rejuvenate its grassroots engagements so that we can win clear margins in Parliament and County Assemblies to enable us enforce our Party Manifesto and campaign promises after winning the Presidency in 2027, and I am ready to do exactly that,” said the youthful Embakasi East MP in a statement released shortly before the party announced that it had settled on Nyong’o.