Opiyo Wandayi’s ODM-Ruto beyond-2027 vow has stirred Kenya’s political pot fresh off Raila Odinga’s funeral, as Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi boldly pledged the Orange Democratic Movement’s unwavering alliance with President William Ruto’s administration, declaring the late opposition lion “Baba” left his party firmly embedded in the broad-based government, and there they’ll stay, hand-in-hand through the next election cycle and further.
Speaking in Bondo amid throngs of mourners, Wandayi’s words landed like a manifesto mic drop, signalling ODM’s pivot from protest roots to power-sharing permanence.
The former MP, who clinched his cabinet post in July as part of Ruto’s olive branch to Azimio holdouts, dropped the bombshell Friday during a sombre procession honouring Odinga, whose casket had just rolled through Kisumu’s teeming streets.
“Baba has left us in a government led by President Ruto, and that is where we are going to stay till the end,” Wandayi proclaimed to a crowd still raw from Sunday’s stadium send-off. “I can dare say with no fear of contradiction that we shall walk step by step with President Ruto to the end, now and beyond 2027.”
It was a far cry from the fiery demos that defined ODM’s Gen Z fury last year, when street protests torched Ruto’s finance bill and nearly his fledgling regime. Wandayi’s stance, echoed in viral clips from the lakeside town, shows the tectonic shifts since Odinga’s July handshake thawed old beefs.
With ODM snagging key dockets, like Wandayi’s energy gig and Public Service CS Justin Muturi’s slot, the party’s brass has warmed to coalition perks, from budget sway to policy nudges on hustler funds and climate cash.
“Raila built bridges, not bunkers,” Wandayi added, framing the loyalty as legacy fulfilment rather than sellout. Yet, whispers from Nyanza’s heartland bubble with unease: elders mutter about betraying Baba’s anti-dynasty gospel, while youth firebrands on X blast it as “Ruto’s Luo lapdog era”.
Ruto, who eulogised Odinga as a “towering colossus” at the funeral, wasted no time lapping up the endorsement. In a State House briefing Friday, he hailed Wandayi as a “bridge-builder”, teasing joint ventures on geothermal digs in Rift Valley and off-grid solar for Siaya’s farms, nods to ODM strongholds craving tangible wins.
Analysts see this as Ruto’s masterstroke to neuter opposition ahead of 2027, diluting ODM’s protest muscle with cabinet carrots. “It’s Handshake 2.0, but stickier,” quipped political watcher Mutula Kilonzo Jr on a morning talk show, warning of internal ODM fractures if the pact sours on delivery.
Back in Bondo, where Odinga’s homestead still hums with condolence queues, locals split on the vow. Traders like Mary Achieng, 52, nod approval: “Baba wanted unity; why fight when we can fix roads together?”
But student activist Otieno Okoth, 22, fumes online: “Wandayi traded our fire for a ministry office. Beyond 2027? More like beyond hope.”
For Wandayi, a one-time ODM fire-eater turned fossil fuel fixer, it’s personal vindication. Thrust into the cabinet amid Ruto’s “broad-based” reboot, he’s championed EV incentives and Turkana oil revival, crediting Odinga’s ghost for the green light.
