National Assembly Minority Leader and ODM Director of Elections Junet Mohamed has firmly pushed back against emerging political rival outfits, dismissing them as temporary distractions while reaffirming the Orange Democratic Movement’s enduring strength as the 2027 general election approaches.
Speaking during a high-energy party mobilization event in Kakamega County, Mohamed declared that ODM’s roots in Western Kenya and across the country remain as solid as ever.
He laid out an ambitious roadmap for the upcoming polls, targeting 100 Members of Parliament alongside major gains in governorships and MCA seats nationwide.
“Tuko tayari Kakamega,” Mohamed told the cheering crowds, signaling the party’s readiness for the campaign trail.
In a follow-up statement, he elaborated on the party’s historical resilience:
“The solidity of the ODM Party will become clearer to all especially to those who were duped to abandon Baba’s party for the many insignificant briefcase parties all over as we head towards the polls.
Ours is an old, tested mass movement; built by the people for the people. We lost Baba to the heavens, but Baba’s spirit is with ODM and the people.
We shall retain all our Western Kenya seats from Trans Nzoia to Vihiga. Ahsante Kakamega for showing up for Baba and for the ODM Party. Tuko tayari.”
Mohamed also didn’t shy away from addressing high-profile exits from the party. In remarks that have since circulated widely, he lightheartedly took a swipe at the Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, telling them to “stop calling us at night” about potentially returning to the fold, and framing their departures as misguided moves.
Mocking the rapid mushrooming of smaller alternative parties, Mohamed quipped that it would take these new parties 40 years to build anything comparable to ODM, adding with political flair that by the time they achieved such stature, “Jesus will have already come to Kenya.”
Chama cha ODM ni chama cha kitaifa sio ya kiiji. Baba alituachia baada ya kuianzisha 2005. Nimeona wengine wameanzisha chama vidogovidogo kama kuku ya Kienyeji. By the time hiyo chama ikuwe kubwa, itakuchukua miaka 40, and huo wakati yesu atakuwa amerudi.
He also argued that the political spirit of the late Raila Odinga (“Baba”) “cannot coexist with someone like Rigathi Gachagua.”
Mohamed made it clear that ODM anchored in Raila Odinga’s legacy is a proven national mass movement with its strongholds rooted rather than a fleeting or regional outfit that struggles.
