Saboti MP Caleb Amisi has come defended Winnie Odinga, exposing the widening cracks inside the Orange Democratic Movement as the party struggles to define itself after the death of its longtime leader, Raila Odinga.
His comments, shared on X on Saturday, sharpened a debate that has been simmering quietly since Raila’s passing but is now spilling into the open.
Amisi accused a group of ODM leaders of turning against Winnie simply because she questioned the party’s political direction. In a fiery message, he labelled them “Ruto-sponsored sellouts,” saying they were betraying the ideals Raila fought for. For Amisi, the divide is not just political—it is personal. He described Winnie as someone who stood beside her father through years of political turbulence and state pressure.
“Winnie Odinga has been the pillar of her father; Baba died in her hands,” he wrote, recalling moments when she endured teargas while shielding Raila during confrontations with security forces. To him, her loyalty is what separates her from leaders now realigning their interests, whether publicly or in private, with President William Ruto.
ODM has been struggling to find its footing since Raila’s death a month ago. The party, built around his personality and political instincts for more than two decades, is now grappling with questions about who will carry forward his legacy—and how. Senior leaders are divided on whether to cooperate with the Kenya Kwanza administration or maintain a confrontational stance. Younger figures like Winnie are pushing for a return to the party’s activist roots, which they say have been weakened by internal deals and shifting loyalties.
Amisi suggested that a moment of reckoning is coming, one that will reveal who still believes in the party’s founding mission. “You can kill and sell the party to Ruto, but you shall never kill the dream of Raila for a better Kenya as long as Caleb is around,” he declared.
His comments came just hours after Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai publicly questioned Winnie’s political experience, arguing she lacked the seniority to challenge established ODM leaders. The friction follows Winnie’s defiant speech at the ODM@20 celebrations in Mombasa on November 14, where she accused unnamed officials of attempting to “sell the party” through backroom talks with political rivals.
Speaking exactly one month after Raila’s death, Winnie reminded party members that ODM was “built on protest and resistance” and warned that anyone betraying that legacy would eventually be exposed.
Her remarks—and the backlash—have now pushed ODM into one of its most public internal struggles in years, laying bare the uncertainty and shifting loyalties shaping the party’s future in the post-Raila era.
