Senate Minority Leader and Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo has issued a stark warning over growing public infighting within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), saying unchecked disputes among senior leaders risk weakening the party and fuelling political intolerance ahead of the 2027 elections.
In a statement on January 6, 2026, Madzayo said ODM’s stature as the country’s largest opposition party meant its internal struggles had national consequences.
He cautioned that public spats were eroding trust and undermining the very values on which the party was founded.
“ODM was founded as a democratic, progressive and reformist movement,” Madzayo said.
“It stands for justice, free speech, tolerance, inclusion and the right to differ without fear.”
He said the party’s wide national footprint and consistent electoral base gave it unmatched influence in shaping governance and social justice debates, adding that “when ODM speaks, the country listens, and when ODM stumbles, the impact is felt nationally.”
Madzayo expressed concern that internal disagreements were increasingly being played out in public, barely three months after the death of party leader Raila Odinga.
He described Odinga as the glue that held the movement together through wisdom and restraint.
“Barely three months after the passing of our party leader, Baba Raila Amolo Odinga, we are airing our disagreements in public, trading insults, and weakening the very house he built,” he said.
The senator warned that unless urgent corrective action was taken, the party risked sliding into a culture of intolerance and violence that could spill into the wider political arena.
“Unless urgent action is taken, we risk heading into 2027 with heightened tensions, intolerance and violence that could undermine free and fair elections,” Madzayo said, calling such a trajectory a betrayal of everything ODM has stood for since its inception.
He stressed that ODM was bigger than any individual and had survived because of Odinga’s commitment to dialogue and internal democracy.
“The greatest honour we can give him is to protect that legacy, not tear it down,” Madzayo said.
Recalling Odinga’s leadership style, Madzayo said dissent was encouraged but always managed through party structures.
“Even in moments of deep internal tension, he insisted that issues be taken to party organs, discussed candidly, and resolved internally,” he said.
“That culture must not die with him.”
Madzayo criticised what he termed unchecked public exchanges, mudslinging and verbal slurs among senior leaders, saying they were damaging ODM’s image and weakening cohesion, particularly in regions where the party has traditionally been strong.
“ODM must never become a party that tells its members to leave,” he warned. “When there are disagreements, the answer is not expulsion or threats.”
Instead, he called for strengthening party organs, reinforcing discipline and recommitting to internal democracy.
He urged leaders to allow free expression within party structures and ensure grievances are “aired, addressed and resolved, not weaponised in public.”
The senator further called for candid, honest and mature engagement to steer the party away from self-destruction and preserve its founding ideals.
His remarks come at the backdrop of public spats by the National Assembly Minority Leader, Junet Mohamed and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, who doubles up as Secretary General of ODM.
