Robert Alai questions ODM’s exclusion from Raila’s Bondo memorial

Kileleshwa Ward MCA Robert Alai has criticised the decision to treat the Bondo memorial for former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as a non-Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) function, arguing that the party cannot be separated from its late leader and his political legacy.

Speaking on Radio Generation on Monday, Alai said ODM members were told that the October 15, 2026, memorial was not an official party event, prompting some to stay away despite Raila’s longstanding association with the political movement.

“For the last 20 years, which private Raila Odinga event has never turned into an ODM event? You will always get even sometimes the family breakfast event. There is an ODM person, governor, MP, senator, women rep who has come, and now that family event, that private moment has turned into an ODM event. How do you separate ODM from Raila? You can’t,” Alai said.

The dispute comes amid wider questions about the management of Raila’s political legacy and the future direction of ODM following his death on October 15, 2025, in India, aged 80.

Raila was the party’s longtime leader and a central figure in Kenya’s opposition politics.

His first death anniversary was marked through a month-long programme of commemorative activities organised by ODM and a separate family-led national steering committee.

The main anniversary gathering was held at Migwena Cultural and Sports Grounds in Bondo, Siaya County, on October 15, bringing together family members, political leaders and supporters to remember the former prime minister.

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The event followed the October 7 unveiling and handover of Raila’s mausoleum at Kang’o Ka Jaramogi, the family compound where he was buried beside his father, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.

The mausoleum ceremony was restricted to invited guests, while public access opened the following day.

However, the anniversary celebrations exposed disagreements over the participation of political leaders and the extent to which the family-led programme should be associated with ODM.

Before the anniversary, the Odinga family had invited leaders from across the political divide, including politicians who had worked with Raila in ODM and during the Handshake arrangement.

Those reportedly invited included President William Ruto, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino.

However, Alai claimed Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo had announced that ODM supporters and leaders were not welcome at the event.

The distinction between invitations to individual politicians and participation by the party as an institution became central to the disagreement.

Alai said the communication had been interpreted as a signal that ODM should not participate in the family-led commemoration in its official capacity.

“We were told not to go by the family, so we respected that. We were told it is not an ODM function first,” he maintained.

Kileleshwa Ward MCA also questioned the perception that ODM was an inheritance that could be managed by Raila’s family, arguing that the party had a wider institutional structure comprising officials, elected representatives and grassroots supporters.

“At some moment, we felt like the family feels that the party is part of family inheritance, which is a very big challenge,” Alai said.

He added: “How is the party part of family inheritance when the party is publicly funded by taxpayers, by the way?”

Alai maintained that ODM’s identity was built through years of political mobilisation and organisation under Raila, making it difficult to separate the party from commemorations of its former leader.