Dear Baba,
It has been a year since you died, on October 15, 2025.
Today, Kenyans remember you as a hero of Kenya’s Second Liberation and a champion of multiparty democracy, opposition leader and politician who spent decades shaping the country’s democratic journey.
I write to tell you what has happened to the party you built and the political movement you left behind.
ODM is still standing. Its offices are open, its leaders are organising, and its grassroots structures are being rebuilt.
But the party has changed. Your elder brother, Oburu Oginga, was confirmed as party leader in March.
The greatest divide is over President William Ruto.
Some of your former allies now stand with him and say they are continuing the work you began.
They point to the ten-point agreement you signed with Ruto in March 2025, which set out areas for cooperation and reform.
At the time, Ruto said the deal was not about power-sharing or the 2027 election.
Since your death, however, Oburu has announced that ODM will not field a presidential candidate in 2027 and will support Ruto’s re-election.
Others say the party is abandoning the opposition role that defined much of your political life.
Edwin Sifuna, once ODM’s secretary-general, has left the party and is building a new political home.
His Equitable Party is seeking approval to become the Linda Mwananchi Movement.
Siaya Governor James Orengo and other leaders have also aligned themselves with the movement.
Sifuna says you would have contested the 2027 election, citing a meeting where, he says, you discussed ODM’s chances.
That is his account, and the people who now claim your legacy offer a different one.
That is the difficult truth, Baba; both camps invoke your name.
One says your final agreement with Ruto gives it the right to work with him.
The other says your record of challenging those in power is the legacy it is defending.
You did sign that agreement, but you are no longer here to explain how far you intended it to go.
No one can honestly make that answer for you.
Kenya is already looking toward 2027, and the opposition is trying to find a way to challenge an incumbent president.
The arguments are not only about who will lead ODM, but who will inherit its supporters, its political machinery, and its place in national politics.
Your absence has made every choice heavier and every disagreement harder to settle.
One year later, people still call you Baba. But inside ODM, there is no longer one room where everyone waits for you to speak.
The party is now arguing over what you stood for, and who has the right to carry it forward.
Rest well, Jakom.