What Winnie said is true: Willis Raburu slams ODM for only chanting tutam
By Charles Ouma, January 28, 2026Celebrated media personality Willis Raburu has slammed the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party over its current political direction, breaking down what the party should focus on before courting other parties.
In a statement posted on his official Facebook account on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, the media star faulted the party for turning to empty political slogans and popularising the ethos of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and neglecting its own.
Raburu agreed with Winnie Odinga, who also questioned the party’s political direction and called for tolerance within the party, with sharp differences of opinion emerging.
“ODM needs to ask itself what is its identity? What is at its core? You cannot, as a part,y move around the country popularising another party’s ethos. What Winnie said is true: ODM needs to put its house in order first. Not just move around the country shouting Tutam and broad-based. What does the party stand for outside of UDA?” Raburu stated.
According to the journalist, ODM needs to retreat to the drawing board, recalibrate and reassert its core values following the death of its founding leader, Raila Odinga.
“It is an opportune and unavoidable moment for the Orange Democratic Movement to undertake a deliberate process of ideological re-anchoring and institutional recalibration, aimed at restoring the party to its foundational ethos and normative compass,” he said.
Moving away from personality-based politics to a new era
He mentioned the party’s long-standing reputation as a platform for advancing social justice, participatory democracy, and people-centred governance.
“This moment calls for a reassertion of core values, a recommitment to ethical clarity, and a revival of the party’s historic mandate as a vehicle for social justice, participatory democracy, and people-centred governance.
Raburu said that the party must move away from politics anchored on personalities and embrace a values-based framework.
“ODM must consciously transcend personality-driven politics and re-embed itself within a values-based framework that privileges principle over expediency.
Raburu breaks down what ODM should focus on
Giving his prescription for a stronger party, the media personality noted that the solution does not lie in crunching electoral arithmetic.
According to him, the party’s focus should be on ethical standards and internal tolerance that have anchored ODM’s growth over the years.
“Strengthening the party, therefore, is not merely an exercise in organisational expansion or electoral arithmetic. It requires the rebuilding of internal coherence, the enforcement of ethical standards, and the revitalisation of grassroots legitimacy as the moral bedrock upon which political authority is derived,” he added.
This comes after Winnie Odinga threw her weight behind ODM leader Oburu Odinga, insisting that there are no feuds within the Odinga family.
At the same time, Winnie Odinga also blasted Oketch Salah for claiming that he held different private conversations with Raila before his death.