In the crowded lanes of Kibera, where the Odinga name has long carried the weight of both promise and patronage, the son of a fallen leader now seeks the seat his father once made his own. The contest is being fought first within the Orange Democratic Movement, a party still learning how to carry its founder's inheritance without being bound by it. Behind it lies a longer story, in which a neighbourhood once used as a backdrop for other people's ambitions learned to claim its own voice. What the party decides here will say as much about its character as about the man who wins.
ODM's Kibera Test: Raila Jr. Bids for the Seat Held by Orero, Raising Family-Versus-Party Tensions
Kibera was a footnote, until Raila made it a fortress.
Mark
Why does one parliamentary seat matter so much to ODM?
Mimi
Because Kibra was the foundation of Raila's career. He won it in 1992 by beating Philip Leakey, and the area became a base for his parties. Whoever holds it carries that history.
Mark
And Orero isn't an outsider to that history.
Mimi
No. He was a school principal, Raila backed him as the party candidate in 2022, and he calls Raila an institution. He's loyal, which is what makes this awkward.
Luke
Worth saying that the piece is analysis, not a report of a formal contest. It says Raila Jr announced his interest, not that nominations have opened or that he has filed.
Mark
So the standoff is partly an interpretation.
Luke
Partly. The claim that the party may feel obliged to return a favour to the founder is the writer's reading. No ODM official is quoted saying it.
Mimi
The family positions are factual, though. Oburu leads the party, Ruth is deputy organising secretary, and Ida is described as matriarch.
Mark
What about the claim that Raila Jr's money and networks will carry him?
Luke
That's what he expects, according to the piece. It isn't evidence of how voters will respond, and Orero has a favourable rating.
Mimi
Which leaves Simba Arati's pledge of free and fair nominations as the thing to watch.
Luke
Right, and the only precedent offered is that the party has bent its rules before. How it behaves this time is still unknown.
Le Pouls
- Raila Odinga Jr has declared his bid for the Kibra seat, placing the family name directly against a sitting MP.
- Peter Orero, a former principal who calls himself a loyal Raila ally, refuses to step aside quietly.
- ODM leadership is weighing its debt to the founder while its pledge of free and fair nominations hangs in the balance.
- The party's history of bending its own rules for convenience makes every procedural step a test of its credibility before 2027.
In the crowded lanes of Kibera, where the Odinga name has long carried the weight of both promise and patronage, the son of a fallen leader now seeks the seat his father once made his own. The contest is being fought first within the Orange Democratic Movement, a party still learning how to carry its founder's inheritance without being bound by it. Behind it lies a longer story, in which a neighbourhood once used as a backdrop for other people's ambitions learned to claim its own voice. What the party decides here will say as much about its character as about the man who wins.
Raila Odinga Jr wants to be the next Member of Parliament for Kibra, the Nairobi constituency long tied to his late father. Standing in his way is the sitting MP, Peter Orero, who describes himself as a faithful keeper of the Odinga legacy. The contest will be settled first inside the Orange Democratic Movement, and it has put the party's handling of succession under a spotlight.
The seat's story reaches back before the elder Raila. In the Moi era, the constituency was presented as cosmopolitan while its residents were largely a footnote, shown to donors as examples of slum conditions. Billions in aid arrived, yet little reached those it was meant to help. The early 1990s changed that, as Kibera's proximity to the city centre made it a place where crowds could gather. Raila aligned himself with its residents, won the seat in 1992, and built a base through patronage and visible presence. Housing blocks, schools, roads and water projects followed during his years in government, and parts of the settlement came to be known by his name.
Raila Jr hopes to inherit that standing. He announced his interest at his father's first anniversary memorial, has his mother's blessing, and is a regular presence at party events. He is expected to lean on family networks and resources.
Orero's claim rests on a different foundation. A former school principal, he has run in several primaries and is known locally as "Mwalimu." Critics called him a handpicked Raila project, a charge he rejects, pointing to years of grassroots work as a teacher. Raila backed him as ODM's candidate in 2022.
The family's weight inside the party sharpens the dilemma. Raila's brother leads the party, and other relatives hold senior positions, so ODM may feel obliged to return a favour to its founder. Deputy leader Simba Arati has promised that nominations will be free and fair. Whether that promise survives a contest between a loyal incumbent and the founder's son is the question the Kibra primary will answer.
Raila Odinga Jr wants to be the next Member of Parliament for Kibra, the Nairobi constituency long tied to his late father. Standing in his way is the sitting MP, Peter Orero, who describes himself as a faithful keeper of the Odinga legacy. The contest, which will be settled first inside the Orange Democratic Movement before it reaches the 2027 general election, has put the party's handling of succession under a spotlight.
The story of the seat begins before the elder Raila. Under Moi and Kanu, the constituency then known as Lang'ata was presented as cosmopolitan, and Philip Leakey was given a direct ticket to represent it. According to the analysis in The Star, this helped project Moi as a globalist, non-racist leader at a time when remnants of the settler community still controlled considerable sectors of the economy and had links to multinational corporations and multilateral agencies. Leakey's elder brother Richard later became head of the Public Service on the World Bank's recommendation. Kibera's residents, meanwhile, were largely a footnote, brought out to illustrate slum conditions. The area drew the highest number of international NGOs working on health and housing, and the piece argues the residents served as statistics for donor proposals, with billions arriving and little reaching the intended beneficiaries.
The early 1990s changed that. Slums in Nairobi played a part in the protests for a return to multiparty democracy, and Kibera, unlike most of the major slums which lie in the Eastlands, sits close to the city centre, which made it useful for mobilising crowds. Raila, who had been detained more than once, aligned himself with the residents. In 1992 he ran for the Lang'ata seat on a Ford-Kenya ticket, the party co-founded by his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and defeated Leakey, the incumbent.
He then built a base through patronage and presence. He drew strong loyalty from the Luo migrant community in the area and favoured a "walk among the people" style over remote campaigning, which earned him the name "Baba". As Minister for Roads, Public Works and Housing from 2003 to 2005, and as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013, he backed multi-storey housing blocks to replace mud shanties, including the Canaan phase launched in 2004 with First Lady Lucy Kibaki. He also supported school projects such as the Raila Education Centre, along with roads, water and sanitation, and the Lang'ata Link Road. A section of the settlement came to be called "Raila Slum" by residents. Parts of Kibera effectively served as headquarters for his successive parties, among them the National Development Party and later ODM.
Raila Jr hopes to inherit that standing. He announced his interest at the first anniversary memorial of his father, has received his mother's blessing, and has become a regular presence at ODM functions. The piece says he expects the family's networks and deep pockets to carry his bid, and that his entry complicates the party's attempt to manage leadership succession after its founder's death.
Orero's claim rests on a different record. A former high school principal at Upper Hill, Lang'ata and Dagoretti High, he ran in the 2019 by-election primaries and in 2022. Critics called him a handpicked Raila "project"; he rejected that, saying his support came from decades of grassroots work as a teacher. Raila backed him as the official ODM candidate in 2022. Known locally as "Mwalimu", he enjoys a generally favourable rating and often defends Raila as a political "institution" and an "enigma".
The family's weight inside the party sharpens the dilemma. Raila's elder brother, Oburu, is party leader. Ruth Odinga is deputy organising secretary. Ida Odinga is described as the party's undisputed matriarch and mentor to national chairperson Gladys Wanga, the Homa Bay governor. The analysis suggests ODM may feel obliged to return a favour to its founder, and notes that the party has historically bent nomination rules for convenience.
Deputy leader Simba Arati has given assurances that nominations will be free and fair. Whether those assurances survive a contest between a loyal incumbent and the founder's son is the question the Kibra primary will answer.
Citations marquantes
Deputy party leader Simba Arati has given assurances that ODM nominations will be free and fair.— Simba Arati, ODM deputy leader (as cited by The Star)
Orero has said his popular support comes from decades of grassroots work as a teacher, not nepotism.— Peter Orero, Kibra MP (as cited by The Star)
Envie de l'histoire complète ?
Lire l'original sur The Star, Kenya ↗