Vihiga ODM officials have started converting party offices in the county to Linda Mwananchi movement offices.
County secretary Davelson Muruli said officials in the county had resolved to change ODM offices in all 25 wards to Linda Mwananchi movement offices, pending the unveiling of the new party that the movement will use in the 2027 General Election.
Muruli said party officials and followers had unanimously resolved to leave the party en masse because of the frustrations Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi and his Nairobi counterpart, Edwin Sifuna, had been subjected to by the Oburu Oginga-led ODM, where they served as deputy party leader and secretary general, respectively.
“We have been operating in offices that were being sustained by the original ODM under the late Raila Odinga. We have decided to paint them white, replace the name ODM with Linda Mwananchi, and we have started today,” he said.
“We have decided to stand with our sons on whatever course they’re pursuing. We were in ODM because of Raila, and our support is not transferable to Oburu because he has shrunk the party to a section of Nyanza region and decided to frustrate Luhyas,” he said.
Muruli said former ODM officials would also change the party’s grassroots structures, starting with polling station committees, to Linda Mwananchi.
On July 26, elders from Vihiga who have traditionally supported ODM announced their exit from the party and declared support for Sifuna’s presidential bid for 2027.
ODM has been the dominant party in the Western region for the last two decades.
The Linda Mwananchi brigade has been holding rallies in the Western region to consolidate support as the movement positions itself as a formidable force ahead of the next General Election, set for August next year.
