- The ODM party is preparing a life of its own without Raila who has been its leader for 18 years.
- Raila is Kenya's candidate for the African Union Commission chairperson in the February 2025 poll.
Image: PCS
The Central Management Committee, the top decision-making organ of ODM, will settle on an interim party leader to take over from Raila Odinga on Wednesday.
Raila is expected to formally step down as the ODM party leader this week to concentrate on his campaigns for the African Union Commission chairperson ahead of the February 2025 poll.
The Star has been informed that Wednesday’s meeting will pick Raila’s successor, ending Odinga's 18-year grip on the outfit since its inception in 2005.
“The Central Management Committee will sit on Wednesday to formally initiate the process of picking Baba(Raila’s) heir in the ODM party so that we free him to concentrate on AU campaigns," said a senior ODM official aware of the plans.
The meeting comes when ODM recently rubbished reports that Raila would be exiting the stage in the coming days to direct his energies on the AUC bid.
Ahead of Wednesday’s CMC meeting, another high-level organ of the ODM party will on Tuesday meet to officially roll out the plans to replace Raila as the ODM boss.
Known as the Elders Council, the organ was formed in April as the Supreme authority to superintend all party organs as part of Raila’s strategy to protect ODM from any mischief in his absence.
It is expected that Raila's successor will be proposed by this organ which will then table it to the CMC for ratification.
The Elders Council will on Tuesday also hold a session with the ODM Board of Trustees to stitch the final proposal on who will succeed Raila.
The names of the Elders Council have not been made public since the organ was formed.
The Board of Trustees is the legal entity comprising ODM linchpins who serve as the vision bearers of the orange party and includes Raila’s most loyal lieutenants over the years
Other members include former Busia Senator Amos Wako, ODM Deputy Secretary General Agnes Zani, Siaya Senator and Raila's brother Oburu Odinga, ODM National Treasurer Timothy Bosire and Director of Administration and Finance Joshua Kawino.
The crucial meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday are seen as the highest level of engagement within the ODM party to prepare for what analysts say would be Raila’s imminent exit from the country’s political arena.
There are conflicting views about who will succeed Raila in the party’s leadership amid friction among top officials working on the succession plan.
Saboti MP Caleb Amisi lifted the lid on the anxiety in the ODM party over Raila’s exit, fronting ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna to take over from Odinga.
“It is my considered view that Edwin Sifuna should serve as party leader to hold brief for baba as he campaigns for the coveted continental post," Amisi said.
Amisi also said Siaya Governor James Orengo should take charge as the chairperson of the Council of Elders to offer advisory counsel to the ODM leadership in Raila’s absence.
“The rejuvenation of Africa's biggest democratic party lies in the freshness, energy, charisma, enthusiasm and dedication of its youthful supporters," Amisi said.