Late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga's lawyer, Paul Mwangi, has claimed that divisions within the ODM Party reflect a calculated political strategy rather than an unplanned fallout.
Speaking in an interview on Sunday, March 29, Mwangi explained that the current standoff is rooted in two factions each aligned to Raila.
"What we have today is actually a fight between two Raila factions, a political-diplomatic faction and a militant faction. Unfortunately, the questions that now arise are about legitimacy, who the legitimate representative of Raila was," he said.
Mwangi explained that both factions, led by Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga and his Nairobi counterpart Edwin Sifuna, are valid representations of Raila’s political identity.
"They are all legitimate because Raila was a complex political character, and all of them represent something he did. Raila would not go into anything without an exit strategy. So even when he began working with President Ruto, he had an exit strategy. The exit strategy was the people who were fighting it, the Sifuna side," he added.
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Mwangi pointed to the faction associated with Sifuna as a deliberate fallback position, suggesting it was designed to counterbalance cooperation efforts if they failed.
"That was his exit strategy. And if things did not work out or if we got it go ahead with the cooperation side, he was going to go and turn into his militant side and tell them, 'come get me,'' he further said.
Elsewhere, ODM has dismissed claims that it spent Ksh100 million to transport thousands of delegates to its recent National Delegates Conference (NDC) held in Nairobi on Friday, March 27.
In a statement earlier Sunday, ODM Director of Campaigns and Elections Junet Mohamed accused The Standard Group of publishing misleading information regarding the number of delegates and the alleged costs incurred.
"We wish to categorically state that these allegations are false, baseless, and a deliberate attempt to misinform the public and diminish the credibility of our party," he said.
Junet further challenged the figures reported, pointing to the party’s constitutional provisions, and criticized the media house for what he described as irresponsible reporting.
"For the avoidance of doubt, the ODM Constitution is explicit on the composition of the National Delegates Conference. The required number of accredited delegates is 3,000; any figure above this is illegal. It therefore begs the question: where did the figure of 6,000 delegates come from?
"Such exaggerations are not only inaccurate but point to a reckless disregard for facts by a media house that is increasingly gaining a reputation for publishing propaganda," he added.
Reaffirming the party’s operational structure and funding mechanisms, Mohamed emphasized ODM’s adherence to legal and constitutional frameworks.
"ODM is a national, democratic movement with established structures across all 47 counties. Our internal processes, including delegates' conferences, are conducted within the framework of our constitution and supported through legitimate party mechanisms, including funding from our members and allocations from the Political Parties Fund as provided for by law," he continued.
Junet also condemned attempts to frame the conference in a negative light.
"The attempt to reduce a significant national political event into a narrative of regional mobilization and financial impropriety is not only irresponsible but also indicative of a broader agenda to mischaracterize ODM's identity and strength.
"Even where the Standard appears intent on holding brief for our political competitors, it must, at the very least, do so with some semblance of ethics and fidelity to the truth," he further said.
