Orange Democratic Movement party leader Dr. Oburu Odinga has threatened to bar what he calls “political busybodies” from visiting the grave of his late brother, Raila Odinga, who passed away last year.
Raila, 80, died after suffering a heart attack while receiving specialized medical treatment in India. Widely known by his supporters as Baba, he was accorded a state burial presided over by President William Ruto.
His death, however, left ODM deeply divided. Two rival factions quickly emerged—one led by Oburu Odinga and the party’s national chairperson, Gladys Wanga, and the other by outspoken Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino.
The Oburu-Wanga camp has thrown its weight behind President Ruto’s 2027 re-election bid through the broad-based government arrangement, while Sifuna and Babu Owino remain firmly opposed to the head of state’s return to power.
The two factions have also taken their rivalry to the ground, with Sifuna and Babu Owino running a series of political rallies under the Linda Mwananchi banner as Oburu and Wanga counter with their own Linda Ground rallies.
On Sunday, Sifuna and Babu Owino descended on Kisumu City—Raila’s traditional political stronghold—and held a rally that drew massive crowds. Before taking the stage, the two leaders stopped at the Kang’o Ka Jaramogi shrine in Siaya County, where Raila was laid to rest, reportedly seeking his blessings ahead of the event.
The visit did not sit well with Oburu. Speaking the same Sunday from Kilifi, where he was holding a Linda Ground rally, Oburu hit out at the duo and warned that he would move to ban political leaders from accessing his brother’s grave altogether. He accused certain ODM figures of shamelessly trying to extract political mileage from Raila’s memory.
Gladys Wanga echoed his sentiments, lending her voice to the growing frustration within their faction over what they see as the exploitation of Raila Odinga’s legacy for political gain.
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