Ruto blocks ODM exit from govt in a bold vow at Raila Odinga’s burial ceremony here today, as President William Ruto warned Orange Democratic Movement members against abandoning their cabinet seats for opposition benches, declaring he would spare no effort to keep the party locked in the ruling fold “out of respect for Raila,” a pledge that rippled through the lakeside crowd like a stone skipped across Lake Victoria’s glassy surface.
Speaking under the acacia shade at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, where Odinga’s casket lay in final repose, Ruto’s words blended eulogy with edict, framing the broad-based alliance as Baba’s longstanding legacy among a sea of orange flags and tear-streaked faces.
The ceremony, the emotional coda to a week of national catharsis—from Nairobi’s chaotic stadium send-off to Kisumu’s candlelit marches—drew over 10,000 mourners to Siaya’s sun-drenched fields, where soil from Uhuru Park mingled with local red earth in a symbolic handover.
Ruto, clad in a crisp black suit against the tropical haze, took the podium after family tributes, his voice steady yet laced with the gravel of shared history. “By the grace of God, ODM will either form the government or be part of the next government,” he intoned, pausing as applause swelled from Nyanza’s heartland.
Then came the hammer: “What I cannot allow, out of respect for Raila, and I will do everything I can with God’s help, is for those who want to destroy the ODM party and go play opposition politics outside. That will not happen.”
It was a message laced with menace and magnanimity, underscoring the fragile truce forged in July when Odinga joined Ruto’s cabinet to quell Gen Z fury over taxes and abductions. ODM’s haul, with dockets like Energy for Opiyo Wandayi and Public Service for Justin Muturi, has quieted street drums but bred internal grumbles, with whispers of walkouts if probes into protest deaths stall.
Ruto’s Bondo broadside, delivered as earthmovers idled nearby for the graveside rite, seemed aimed at those murmurs, vowing UDA’s support for ODM’s 2027 ambitions while drawing a line in the sand.
“In honour of Mr Odinga, I cannot allow anyone to destroy ODM. Raila believed in the power of political parties, and we must respect that,” he added, his gaze sweeping the VIP dais where Oburu Oginga sat stoic beside Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga.
As the procession wound toward Opoda Farm for interment, the casket borne on shoulders through fish-scented markets, Ruto’s vow hung heavy, a political bookmark on Odinga’s unfinished chapter.
With 2027 looming like a mirage over the Rift, this Bondo moment tests the alliance’s sinews: will ODM chafe under the “stay or else” edict, or bloom in the broad tent? For now, in the dust of Siaya, Raila’s shadow stretches long, whispering that unity’s price might just be the opposition’s soul.