Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga. /OBURU ODINGA/XSiaya Senator Oburu Odinga has assured President William Ruto of the Luo community's support until the 2027 General Election, declaring that the political pact he made with ODM leader Raila Odinga is unshakable.
Speaking on Friday during the burial of veteran women’s rights champion Mama Phoebe Asiyo in Karachuonyo, Homa Bay county, Oburu said the handshake-style arrangement was here to stay despite growing grumbling from within ODM.
“Your Excellency, our people are usually very honest. If they don’t love you, they tell you they don’t love you.
"Sometimes back, when you were campaigning here, you would not have gotten such a standing ovation like the one you are receiving because now Raila has told them that this is the way to go. We are in this broad-based government to stay, until 2027,” Oburu told the President, who was in attendance alongside Raila.
The senator warned critics of the Ruto–Raila pact to exercise patience and respect the political pecking order.
“There are some people who are grumbling, but they should be patient; some of them are very young. They should be patient and learn from Raila. They should be patient and learn under us; we shall be able to give them direction."
Oburu urged younger leaders critical of the alliance to respect the political hierarchy and “learn under Raila,” remarks widely seen as directed at Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna.
Sifuna has been one of the loudest voices against the Ruto–Raila deal, recently declaring the March 7 memorandum of understanding between the two leaders “dead” in a Citizen TV interview.
He blamed Ruto’s administration for trampling on human rights, citing the June 8 death in police custody of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang.
Oburu’s public defence of the alliance underscores widening rifts within ODM over Raila’s decision to work with Ruto.
While loyalists like Oburu frame the arrangement as a strategic coalition for national stability, dissenters insist it betrays the opposition’s core mandate of keeping the government in check.
Raila, addressing mourners after Oburu, backed his elder brother’s remarks, saying the pact was born out of necessity to prevent Kenya from sliding into chaos.
“We were forced into this because of the situation that was there. I do not regret what we did. We did it in the best interest of our country, and Kenya must move on,” Raila said.
“There was a very big probability of Kenya deteriorating into a failed state.”
The high-profile burial drew political heavyweights including Siaya Governor James Orengo, Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, and several MPs, providing a rare public show of unity between Raila and Ruto amid growing dissent within the opposition ranks.
