By IP Political Desk
BONDO, Kenya
In Bondo, where the wind off Lake Victoria carried both grief and rumor, President William Ruto made a promise that startled even his allies.
Standing before mourners at Raila Odinga’s state funeral, he declared he would “not allow anyone to kill ODM or gamble with it outside the broad-based government.”
It was a moment soaked in irony — the head of state swearing to protect the opposition’s largest party from… well, the opposition itself.
Somewhere, one suspects, Baba might have smiled at the cosmic mischief of it all.
Ruto’s words, though draped in solemn tribute, have rippled through ODM like a small earthquake.
The once-unshakable Orange family now faces a widening fault line: on one side, the governance gospel preached by loyalists who want to keep ODM inside the government tent; on the other, the resistance revivalists — youthful MPs, meme-savvy and microphone-ready — who see cooperation as betrayal and are itching to reclaim the fire of the streets.
Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi and a chorus of older loyalists insist ODM will stay “part of the broad-based government.
” To them, Raila’s final handshake with Ruto wasn’t a betrayal — it was a strategy.
“We are inside government because that’s where decisions are made — shouting from outside never fed anyone,” Wandayi said, earning knowing nods from the old guard.
“We are inside, not outside,” another senior official quipped, “and inside is where the budget lives.”
The new generation — the Babus, the Sifunas and the digital warriors who know hashtags better than handshakes — see things differently.
They talk about ideals, youth power and “the dream Baba died protecting.”
They want ODM to lead the opposition again, not rent space in government.
Senator Edwin Sifuna has tried to cool the tempers.
“I won’t be the one to break ODM,” he declared.
Noble words, perhaps, but as one wag in Nairobi quipped, “That’s what every politician says — right before they open their own party office.”
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, never one to mince words, struck the loudest note of defiance:
“We loved Baba because he taught us to fight, not to fold — ODM was built in the streets, not in State House.”
His remark, cheered by young supporters online, summed up the generational divide now threatening to turn the Orange movement into a fruit salad of ambition and nostalgia.
Meanwhile, Siaya Senator Dr Oburu Oginga, now interim ODM chair, is playing peacemaker and patriarch — though in Kenya’s political jungle, peacemakers often end up as chew toys.
Outside the Orange walls, the predators are already circling.
In Western Kenya,Dr Moses Wetang’ula’s Ford Kenya and Eugene Wamalwa’s DAP-K are sharpening their claws, hoping ODM’s fall might finally make Bungoma,Vihiga,Busia,Trans Nzoia and Kakamega “orange-free zones.”
Down at the Coast, Senate Speaker Amason Kingi’s PAA party waits like a fisherman with fresh bait, ready to scoop up any ODM fish swimming away from the net.
In Central, remnants of Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party are quietly whispering:
“If Raila’s house collapses, maybe we can rebuild the old handshake mansion.” and from the shadows, Ruto’s own UDA — never one to miss a funeral or a feeding frenzy — smiles knowingly.
For now, Ruto insists his “friendship” with ODM will outlast Raila himself but as one ODM youth leader put it in a hushed tone,
“When the President says he’ll protect you, check who he’s protecting you from — and whether it’s him.”
So, will the center hold? Maybe or maybe the orange is about to be squeezed by ambition, government manipulation and too much love from its former rivals.
Either way, in Kenya’s political market, one thing is certain — everyone’s already selling Raila’s legacy by the slice.
Five Memorable Quotes from the Drama
President William Ruto: “I will not allow anybody to kill ODM or gamble with it outside the broad-based government.”
Senator Edwin Sifuna: “I won’t be the one to break ODM.”
Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi: “We are inside government because that’s where decisions are made — shouting from outside never fed anyone.”
MP Babu Owino: “We loved Baba because he taught us to fight, not to fold — ODM was built in the streets, not in State House.”
ODM Youth Leader (anonymous): “When the President says he’ll protect you, check who he’s protecting you from — and whether it’s him.”
