The story titled Raila retires: 17 years of grit, endurance at helm of ODM gave an overview of Raila’s 17 years at the helm of the ODM leadership
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party has termed a story carried by the Daily Nation claiming that party leader Raila Odinga has retired from politics, as misinformation.
In a strong-worded statement dated Thursday, September 5, the party’s Secretary General Edwin Sifuna registered the party’s strong disagreement with and disapproval of the ‘weird’ story published by the local daily.
According to the Nairobi Senator, the newspaper’s headline attempted to write a political obituary of Raila while at the same time inciting non-existent rivalries for the former Prime Minister’s position.
Raila Odinga with Edwin Sifuna during a past event. /FILE
“Several times, Rt. Hon. Raila Odinga has informed the country that he will be presenting himself for election to the position of chairman of the African Union Commission during elections to be held in February 2025,” Sifuna set the record straight in a statement.
“As matters stand now, neither Mr Odinga nor the Orange Democratic Movement has announced his exit and retirement from party leadership.”
According to ODM, it saw no reason whatsoever for the Daily Nation to come up with a screaming headline announcing Raila’s retirement, complete with what it termed as “incoherent purported analysis of his life and times as leader of ODM.”
“Nation‘s story is in absolute bad faith and intended to create despondency among party supporters while fanning pandemonium in ODM. We advise the public, and, in particular, the party’s supporters to take careful note of the paper’s intentions and treat the publication with the contempt it deserves,” added the statement.
Appearing to have had enough of fake news from the newspaper, the party called on the publication to exercise professionalism and issue clarity to Kenyans on the controversial story “that the story published today had no basis and served no professional purpose.”
The story titled Raila retires: 17 years of grit, endurance at helm of ODM gave an overview of Raila’s 17 years at the helm of the ODM leadership, and claimed that several sources were of the view that it was time for him to leave the political stage.
It is worth noting that Raila on August 21 hinted at exiting Kenyan politics to concentrate on his candidacy for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson
“At the moment, I am involved in the campaigns but that does not mean that Kenya ceases to exist. I am not going to be very active in Kenyan politics henceforth, as I continue to focus my attention on the continental campaign.
“It is a transitional phase from active participation in Kenyans to moving towards African continental politics,” Raila remarked.
This move would blow open a window of opportunity for fresh faces, particularly in the opposition to stake their claim in their mission to challenge President William Ruto in the 2027 general elections.
