Two senior officials from Raila Odinga’s ODM party have revealed that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) will field a presidential candidate to challenge President William Ruto in the 2027 elections. This marks the first official statement from ODM leaders regarding the 2027 presidential race since some of the party’s senior members joined President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza government a few weeks ago.
On Saturday, Kisii Governor Simba Arati and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir made it clear that the ODM party has no intention of supporting President Ruto’s re-election bid. Instead, the party plans to mount its own challenge at the ballot, dismissing reports that ODM was considering a coalition deal ahead of the 2027 polls.
“I want to tell President Ruto that ODM will have a candidate on the ballot in 2027,” Governor Arati stated on Saturday.
There have been rumors suggesting that President Ruto and Raila Odinga might collaborate for the 2027 election following the formation of a broad-based government. However, Arati emphasized that President Ruto’s decision to include ODM leaders in his Cabinet should not be interpreted as a political alliance ahead of the next elections.
Arati compared the situation to borrowing utility players from a rival team to stabilize a squad, explaining, “Today, Kenya has sent her police officers to Haiti. But that does not mean we have stopped being Kenyans and become citizens of Haiti. The same situation applies here.”
Simba Arati and Abdulswamad Nassir are deputy party leaders in ODM, alongside Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi.