Is Winnie Odinga Kenya’s next opposition star?

Less than two months after the passing of Kenyan opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, attention has turned to his youngest daughter, Winnie Odinga — East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) member — amid growing questions over whether she is preparing to inherit his political legacy and lead the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party and its broad base of supporters.

Winnie (35) took center stage during the celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the party’s founding in Mombasa on November 14, where she delivered a sharply worded speech warning against attempts to “sell” the party or fragment its ranks following her father’s death. Addressing thousands of ODM supporters, she declared: “The ODM party is not for sale,” accusing certain leaders of walking with the party during the day while “cutting deals against it” at night.

In the same speech, she added that ODM “was not born in a bedroom, and its future will not be discussed in pillow talk,” in reference to her rejection of what she describes as backroom deals being made over the party’s role in the current coalition government led by William Ruto, an arrangement the late Odinga entered through a political understanding before his death. She stressed that the party “was born from protest and grew through resistance, and remains owned by the people,” in an effort to affirm the continuity of an oppositional stance even from within government.

Winnie’s speech in Mombasa has so far been seen as her most significant political statement since her father’s death on October 15 in India at age 80, an event that plunged the country into anticipation over the future of the opposition and the political representation of the Luo community, whose most prominent leader Odinga had been for decades. Odinga received a state funeral in his hometown, attended by Ruto and African leaders, signaling the magnitude of the void he left in Kenyan political life.

Winnie belongs to the fourth generation of a prominent political family: she is the granddaughter of Kenya’s first Vice President, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, and the daughter of the country's most prominent opposition leader in recent decades. According to her biography, she studied political science at Drexel University in the United States and spent years working behind the scenes as her father’s campaign coordinator and political adviser before entering the electoral arena when ODM nominated her for the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in 2022. She won broad support from members of the National Assembly and the Senate in Nairobi.

Since then, Winnie has appeared on the front lines of protests and opposition marches, and she has maintained an active presence on social media, giving her a clear base among urban youth. After her father’s death, her composed performance during the state funeral ceremonies, along with speeches that blended mourning with politics, drew attention to her ability to speak to the public in the same language and slogans associated with “Baba,” as Odinga’s supporters called their late leader.

Even so, the path ahead of Winnie remains surrounded by complex internal balances within ODM and the broader opposition. Beyond longtime party leaders like John Mbadi, James Orengo, and several influential ODM county governors, there is also a younger generation of politicians — including MP Babu Owino — seeking to expand its influence in the post-Odinga era. Within the party’s strongholds, debates continue over whether leadership should pass directly to a family member or whether the moment calls for a “broader consensus” that would prevent splitting the opposition base.

On the other hand, Winnie’s supporters rely on the family name, its history of struggle, and her ability to energize the public. They view her frequent appearances at party events in recent weeks not as mere protocol for the daughter of a departed leader, but as a sign of a larger role she is preparing to assume — whether in leading the party’s youth wing or shaping its political message in confronting the government.

While ODM leaders officially insist that the debate over Odinga’s successor is still unresolved, Winnie’s rhetoric and movements indicate she is intent on reinforcing two key messages: first, that the party will not be sold or hijacked through secret deals; and second, that her father’s political legacy — rooted in protest and the defense of pluralism — remains alive among the party’s base and its younger leaders. Between these two possibilities, the debate continues in Kenya over whether Winnie is preparing to don “Baba’s cloak” or is instead settling into the role of “guardian of the legacy” as the political equations ahead of the 2027 elections take shape.