Fiery Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino has fired a fresh salvo into Kenya’s political landscape with a bold call for immediate leadership change within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

At the same time, Babu has said that the party must convene a National Delegates Conference (NDC) to elect new leadership to lead the party into the 2027 General Election.

The outspoken legislator’s comments come at a time of heightened uncertainty and rising tension within ODM as the party grapples with the vacuum left by the death of its towering leader, Raila Odinga, in October 2025.

Raila’s death has left the party searching for a new sense of direction and consensus even after his elder brother Dr Oburu Oginga was installed as the Party Leader.

Speaking after a meeting in Nairobi with a cross‑section of ODM leaders, including Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, Ruth Odinga and Millie Odhiambo, Babu did not mince his words.

“It is time to take over the party,” he said, asserting that the existing leadership arrangement is no longer serving the party’s interests, an opinion he has held since Raila’s demise.

According to Babu, the party should immediately convene a National Delegates Conference (NDC), which is the highest decision‑making body in ODM, to usher in a leadership transition.

Oburu’s ascension was intended to offer continuity, but critics argue the process lacked wider consultation of the party’s grassroots, contributing to deep internal disagreements.

Babu’s appeal taps into growing frustrations within parts of the party who feel that ODM’s leadership has been unable to galvanise and unify the party ahead of the 2027 general election.

His call for an NDC sets the stage for a potentially dramatic contest that threatens to sharpen existing fault lines between senior figures within the party and its increasingly vocal younger cohort.

In publicly declaring “Baada ya Baba ni Babu”, a rallying slogan loosely translated as “After Baba, it’s Babu’s time”, the MP signalled both his personal ambition and a broader generational push within ODM.

Some in ODM view the assertion of influence by Babu, who is also salivating for the Nairobi gubernatorial seat, as divisive at a time when the party needs unity.

Senior ODM figures have been navigating multiple fronts of discontent, ranging from debates over the party’s cooperation with President William Ruto’s administration in what was termed as broad‑based government to factional disputes involving top figures like Edwin Sifuna.

Sifuna is the party’s secretary general and the official spokesperson, acknowledged by Raila, before his sudden demise.