The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Deputy Party Leader, Simba Arati, has invited former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka to go back to the movement, a decision that could all but guarantee a second term for Kenya Kwanza.
Speaking in Kisumu on Saturday, Arati also reiterated his earlier invitation to President William Ruto to join the party that thrust him into politics.
"As the deputy party leader, we have told President William Ruto to come back to ODM," the Kisii governor said.
"We also want to tell Uhuru Kenyatta and even Kalonzo, who was also in ODM, to come back to honour Raila Odinga by coming back to ODM so that we can win in 2027."
This invitation comes just six days after the same governor extended the same invitation to President Ruto during the Mashujaa Day celebrations.
According to Arati, if the President were to rejoin the party, he would automatically be considered its presidential candidate in the 2027 General Election.
He cited earlier remarks by President William Ruto in which he had promised to ensure that ODM did not lose its 20-year legacy after the demise of its leader, Raila Odinga, who passed away on October 15.
“The President yesterday said he is going to ensure that ODM remains the party it is. I want to urge him today, Mheshimiwa Ruto, you were a founding member of ODM. How I wish that you would come back to your former party,” Arati said on Monday.
“If you came back to ODM, then we would have you as our flag bearer. If you came back, we would fulfil the promise Baba had a vision for.”
The President was among the founding members of the opposition party when it was established in 2005 after a successful campaign against a new constitution. The Orange logo was used in the ballot to portray 'no' and thus, they adopted it after the polls, forming the ODM party.
Arati's invite comes at a time when the ODM party is at a crossroads, with several top players in the party already differing on what could have been Raila's plan for the party.
At the time of Raila's passing, he had secured a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA), positioning ODM in the broad-based government.
Although some, like the acting Party Leader, Oburu Odinga and the ODM National Chairperson, Gladys Wanga, insist the party will remain in opposition, others, like its Secretary General, Edwin Sifuna, are already being pressured to leave the party, as he was against the MoU and the broad-based government.
