Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga has criticized Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, accusing him of trying to demonize her family name and its legacy within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the nation.
In a pointed social media statement released Sunday, May 10, the younger sister of the late Raila Odinga condemned Mbadi for dismissing the historical role her family played in building and sustaining the party.
The lawmaker’s response followed Mbadi’s recent remarks during an ODM officials’ retreat in Mombasa. At that gathering, Mbadi asserted that the party is not a family business and does not belong solely to the Odingas. He accused Ruth Odinga of undermining the current leadership and demanded that she show respect to the party hierarchy.
“It does not belong to a family. You know we have a party where someone, because she is the sister to the party leader, thinks she can order us around; you cannot,” Mbadi stated, directing his comments at Ruth Odinga.
The Cabinet Secretary further claimed that the efforts of other loyalists were responsible for Raila Odinga’s political stature.
“We also fought for Raila. If you’re Raila’s sister, please respect us; if it were not for us, Raila would not have been the person he was before his demise,” he added.
These comments clearly struck a nerve with the Kisumu Representative, who now frames the outburst as an attempt to erase her family’s deep-rooted contributions.
In a sharp rejoinder, Ruth Odinga characterized Mbadi’s comments as a direct personal strike, noting that she stood as the sole representative of her family during the meeting.
“I say this was a personal attack because I looked around and I was the only Odinga in the room. My brother, the Party Leader Dr. Oburu Oginga, did not attend the three-day retreat,” she stated.
She expressed particular outrage at Mbadi’s suggestion that the late opposition leader, Raila Odinga, no longer holds sway and that his influence was overstated even during his life. For the lawmaker, these remarks showed a deep lack of respect for both his enduring legacy and the millions of Kenyans who followed him.
“It is not the ODM Party that made Raila Odinga. It is the people of Kenya who made him who he was in life, and even in death, because of what he stood for, and out of that, he and others made the ODM party,” she added, reminding the leadership that the party’s strength originated from the man and the people, not the other way around.
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