DEC, 31, 2025-Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s rare but pointed response to claims that he is interfering with the internal affairs of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has reopened unresolved political tensions between his camp and President William Ruto’s allies, exposing deeper anxieties within Kenya’s post-2022 power structure.
Uhuru’s rebuttal — dismissing the allegations as political mischief — was less about ODM itself and more about reclaiming political space as an elder statesman who refuses to be politically quarantined. While he no longer holds office, Uhuru remains a significant political actor whose influence, networks and symbolic weight continue to unsettle the Kenya Kwanza establishment.
At the centre of the dispute is ODM, a party historically associated with Raila Odinga, Uhuru’s former political rival turned ally during the 2018 Handshake. For Ruto’s allies, Uhuru’s perceived proximity to ODM is viewed not as benign engagement but as a calculated attempt to re-engineer opposition politics ahead of the next electoral cycle.
However, the accusation raises a fundamental contradiction: Kenyan politics has long allowed retired presidents to play advisory, conciliatory or even strategic roles. From Daniel arap Moi’s post-retirement interventions to Mwai Kibaki’s behind-the-scenes influence, political retirement has never meant political silence.
Uhuru’s critics appear less concerned with principle and more troubled by timing and symbolism. His re-emergence coincides with growing economic discontent, fractures within Kenya Kwanza, and ODM’s internal debates over cooperation or resistance to the Ruto administration. In this context, Uhuru’s voice — even when restrained — carries disruptive potential.
By firing back, Uhuru signaled that he will not accept being framed as a political saboteur simply for engaging with national affairs. His statement subtly positioned him as a defender of multiparty democracy, where political consultation across party lines is not only legal but necessary.
For President Ruto’s allies, the strategy appears twofold: to delegitimise Uhuru’s interventions and to paint ODM as externally manipulated, thereby weakening its internal cohesion. Yet this narrative risks backfiring by inadvertently elevating Uhuru’s relevance and reinforcing perceptions that the current administration is uneasy with dissenting power centres.
The episode also underscores ODM’s enduring centrality in Kenyan politics. Despite losing the presidency, the party remains a key opposition force, and any suggestion of Uhuru’s involvement amplifies its strategic importance rather than diminishes it.
Ultimately, the clash is less about ODM and more about who controls Kenya’s political future narratives. Uhuru’s rebuttal was not an attempt to reclaim power, but a reminder that political influence in Kenya does not expire with office.
As the country edges toward another election cycle, the battle lines are becoming clearer: a ruling coalition keen on monopolising legitimacy, an opposition navigating internal choices, and a former president unwilling to retreat quietly into ceremonial irrelevance.
In Kenyan politics, the past is never truly past — and Uhuru Kenyatta remains a factor many would prefer to wish away, but cannot.
