NAIROBI, Kenya — George Natembeya has warned that attempts by a faction within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to transform the Linda Mwananchi movement into a political party could weaken the opposition and inadvertently strengthen President William Ruto ahead of the next general election.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV’s JKLive show on Wednesday, the Trans Nzoia governor described the unfolding tensions in ODM as an internal party dispute but cautioned that a formal split could fragment opposition support.
Natembeya said leaders allied to the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party are closely observing the situation, hoping the disagreements within ODM will be resolved without creating further divisions in the opposition.
“On the story about Linda Mwananchi, I have never been in any of those events. This is basically an internal ODM issue and how they are relating with the Government. For us in Azimio, we are basically bystanders viewing how events are unfolding and we hope it ends well,” he said.
The governor, who distanced himself from either faction, said the current tensions appear to have split ODM into two camps — one supporting cooperation with the government and another opposing it.
“It looks like there are two sides of ODM, one is supporting the current broad-based government led by the interim party leader Oburu Oginga, and the other faction led by Edwin Sifuna and James Orengo, who are not for the broad-based arrangement,” Natembeya said.
The divisions stem from the political realignments that followed the decision by ODM leader Raila Odinga to cooperate with the Kenya Kwanza administration under President Ruto through a broad-based governance arrangement.
Within the emerging factions, Sifuna is associated with the Linda Mwananchi wing, which is critical of the cooperation framework, while Oburu Oginga is linked to the Linda Ground group that supports engagement with the government.
Natembeya said leaders opposing the arrangement are largely reiterating concerns raised earlier by sections of the opposition when Odinga entered into cooperation with the government.
“The arrangement where Raila went to the government, some of us did not support it and the people who are opposing it from within are basically echoing the view we had when Raila Odinga joined William Ruto,” he said.
However, the governor warned that converting the Linda Mwananchi movement into a political party could fragment opposition support and ultimately benefit the incumbent president.
“My personal view is that it will be a disaster, because their views are basically the views of the Opposition and as the Opposition, we want to be united. Now, if they branched off and formed another wing of opposition, they are going to reduce our votes and inevitably help Ruto get another term,” he said.
The remarks come amid growing tensions within ODM over the implementation of a 10-point agenda agreed between the party and the Kenya Kwanza Alliance administration.
On Wednesday, Senator Sifuna dismissed a briefing at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) that outlined progress on the agenda, describing the event as a “charade” and insisting the agreement had not been implemented as promised.
Sifuna argued that the oversight committee tasked with monitoring the deal failed to present its final report by the March 7 deadline and said his faction would release what he termed a “true report” detailing the shortcomings in implementing the pact.
