Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku issued a fiery ultimatum to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), threatening a mass exit to join the emerging Linda Mwananchi movement alongside his key supporters.
The governor’s threat stems from accusations that the party is directly assisting candidates affiliated with the rival United Democratic Alliance (UDA). Lenku argued that this backroom cooperation directly undermines grassroots allies and risks collapsing the political footprint of the party across Kajiado County.
“ODM will close shop in Kajiado County. We are the people who brought ODM here and helped it earn respect,” Lenku said.
He recounted how local leaders and dedicated members originally built party support through unwavering loyalty to the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
“We are, however, ready to leave it if the party continues to betray us,” Lenku said.
To avert a total split, Lenku demanded that the top hierarchy issue an explicit, public apology for allowing key officials to actively campaign for non-party members on rival, UDA-aligned platforms.
“We want the ODM leadership to apologize for campaigning for politicians who are not party members,” he said.
Pointing to recent political shifts, Lenku noted that several elected Members of County Assembly (MCAs) who previously won under the ruling party ticket recently defected to the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP), led by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. He warned that ODM faces the exact same mass exodus if it fails to fix its leadership issues.
“The same way UDA MCAs went to DCP, we will also leave to Linda Mwananchi,” he said.
Lenku concluded by reminding the leadership that the party originally struggled to establish a foothold in the region until local allies built its operational base from the ground up.
“ODM we found it weak, and because we respected the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, we made it strong in Kajiado,” Lenku said.
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