Why exit of Raila Odinga sets stage for high stakes

Undoubtedly, the sudden death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has left a wide political vacuum across the country.
With his traditional support bases now up for grabs and the 2027 General Election looming, political machinations are now in top gear to inherit the rich vote bloc.

The exit of the titan, who has been a colossal figure in Kenyan politics for the last four decades, has set the stage for major political realignments and manoeuvring, with political players now angling to inherit his following.

It is against this backdrop that the United Opposition Front and the Kenya Kwanza administration are now sizing each other up like wrestlers, eager to win the inevitable contest to woo the electorate ahead of the General Polls.

Speaking in Kakamega County during his four-day development tour of the Western region on Thursday this week, President William Ruto termed his opponents in the opposition as clueless, insisting that they are not worthy of being his competitors. He reiterated that the only opponent he would have competed with was Raila, not the current opposition.

“These people have no brains, and without brains, you cannot plan anything. The only thing they know is mere rhetoric full of tribalism, divisive politics, and violence; therefore, they are not worthy competitors. The only competitor would have been the late Raila, and I will easily defeat them come 2027,” said Ruto.

His sentiments were both an ode to the former premier and a scolding for the opposition, comprising Democratic Citizens Party (DCP) leader and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua, Wiper Democratic Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, DAP-K leader Eugene Wamalwa, and Fred Matiang’i, who was recently appointed Jubilee’s Deputy Party Leader.

Ruto charged: “My opponents have no plans, and I want to tell them that ‘One Term’ and ‘Kasongo’ will not help if they have no plan. I am focused, and I have a deliberate plan to deliver development to my people.”

Ruto went on to implore the ODM supporters present to rally behind his administration—a decision he said they would not regret in the present or future should he clinch his second term.

“I am working together with Azimio and ODM people under the broad-based government, and no region will be left behind in terms of development. No one will derail my plan of developing all regions, regardless of their political affiliation, and tribalism will be a thing of the past,” emphasised the President.

In a clapback, however, the opposition fired a salvo at Ruto, terming him an “opportunist” and a “failed leader who has betrayed the Kenyan people.”

Speaking to The Standard, former Attorney-General Justin Muturi accused the Head of State of propagating empty rhetoric and being dramatic.

“We in the opposition have no reason to give Ruto our agenda. He, like most other Kenyans, will see it at the appropriate time. In the meantime, let him continue gaslighting Kenyans about the many ghost projects he keeps launching. It is all rhetoric and empty drama devoid of any substance,” stated Muturi.

Muturi, who severed ties with Ruto’s administration—where he formerly served as a Cabinet Secretary—added:

“Ruto promised redemption from economic injustice. He vowed to ‘flip the pyramid’, to lift the ordinary citizen crushed by decades of elite rule. He declared himself the son of a nobody taking on dynasties. It was a story too good to resist—Kenya’s perfect parable of the underdog who conquers power,” he remarked.

“But three years later, the pyramid still stands—heavier, sharper, and more unforgiving to those at the bottom. What has emerged instead is a sobering truth: Kenya did not elect a reformer. It crowned an opportunist.”

He went on: “Expecting Ruto to reform Kenya’s political order is like expecting clean water from a poisoned well. The man has never built anything lasting, only alliances of convenience. Survival, though impressive, is not a development strategy. It is the mirror we refuse to face.”

His sentiments came after PLP leader Karua, who had a day earlier accused the President of state capture, weaponisation of law to silence dissent, and betrayal of the nation’s collective dream, which he swore to protect.

Karua noted that Kenyans are tired and should continue speaking in unison against a regime that is strangling the nation’s democracy.

“Across the land, the people are speaking again; they are saying enough of impunity, contempt for citizens’ voices, and enough of leaders who see power not as stewardship but as spoils—to reclaim Kenya’s soul. We must begin where we lost it, in the betrayal of truth and the abandonment of justice,” she stated.

With the stakes higher than ever—for a first-term President who will seemingly stop at nothing to secure another term, and an opposition whose foremost agenda is to relegate the former to a one-term presidency—all eyes are now on the political class as they seek to capture the hearts and minds of the electorate.

To secure continuity in tenure, President Ruto is now in a spirited bid to gather all and sundry into the broad-based government arrangement, but the opposition is unrelenting in its quest for power through the formation of a formidable front premised on putting the needs of the people first.