Osotsi declares himself Linda Mwananchi deputy leader after ODM ouster

Senior figures in ODM's Linda Mwananchi faction held a public rally at Tononoka Grounds in Mombasa on March 29, 2026, where Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi declared himself the group's deputy party leader and said he would not seek to reverse his removal from ODM.

Osotsi was ousted as ODM Deputy Party Leader at the party's National Delegates Conference held at Jamhuri Grounds in Nairobi on March 27, 2026.

Kisii Governor Simba Arati and Mombasa Governor Abdullswamad Nassir were elected in his place.

The same NDC approved coalition talks between ODM and President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance.

"Today I announce that I will be the Deputy Party Leader of Linda Mwananchi," Osotsi told the Tononoka crowd.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, also present at the rally, said he does not recognise the current ODM leadership.

"I do not recognise an ODM that does not have Baba Raila Odinga. I cannot recognise an ODM that expels people," he said.

He added that Osotsi's original appointment as deputy party leader had been made personally by Raila Odinga.

"This Osotsi was given that seat by Baba himself. Who are you to take Osotsi's seat?"

The Linda Mwananchi faction has not registered a political party, but it has already moved to protect the name.

In early March 2026, a private individual, Charles Wanyonyi, applied to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties to register the name Linda Mwananchi Party of Kenya.

Sifuna, Siaya Governor James Orengo, Osotsi, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and several other members of the faction filed an objection through their lawyers, Henia Anzala and Associates, on March 4, 2026.

They argued that a registered party under that name could use their names and likenesses to solicit funds without their consent.

On March 13, 2026, Registrar John Cox Lorionokou rejected Wanyonyi's application.

The Registrar ruled that the proposed name too closely resembled the already reserved slogan Linda Mkenya, Boresha Kenya, and raised public interest concerns under Section 8 of the Political Parties Act.

At Tononoka, Sifuna asked supporters to register through an online portal the faction launched on March 13, 2026.

"We want you to go online and register so we know how many we are. There is a number we are waiting to reach, and once we get there, we will announce our next steps," he said.

By March 21, 2026, roughly 25,000 people had signed up.

The faction boycotted the March 27 NDC, calling it unconstitutional.

The day before the conference, the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal dismissed Sifuna's petition to stop it, ruling he had not exhausted ODM's internal dispute resolution channels.

The faction has rejected both that ruling and the NDC's resolutions.

The group has held public rallies across several counties in recent months, including in Nairobi, Western Kenya and the Rift Valley.