Jalang’o vows to fight on as Winnie Odinga enters Nairobi Senate race

Jalang’o vows to fight on as Winnie Odinga enters Nairobi Senate race - Lang’ata MP Felix Odiwour, popularly known as Jalang’o. (Photo: X/Jalang'o)

Reacting to Winnie’s entry into the race, the MP said he was ready to face her and other aspirants in the contest for the Nairobi Senate seat, insisting that her decision would not make him abandon his bid.

Lang’ata MP Felix Odiwuor, popularly known as Jalang’o, has welcomed East African Legislative Assembly MP Winnie Odinga’s entry into the race for Nairobi senator in the 2027 General Election, admitting that her bid has raised the stakes in the contest but insisting it has not affected his ambition to clinch the seat.

Winnie, the daughter of the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, announced her intention to contest the seat on Thursday during the first commemoration of her father’s death, bringing another prominent figure into the race for the position currently held by Edwin Sifuna. The race has so far attracted other aspirants, including Odiwuor, United Opposition youth leader Ken Babu, lawyer Cecil Miller and former Makadara MP Reuben Ndolo.

Odiwuor is seeking the seat under the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket, setting up a potential contest with Winnie during the party’s nomination process. The outcome will determine who represents ODM in a race that could test the party’s ability to manage competing ambitions ahead of the 2027 polls.

Reacting to Winnie’s entry into the race, Odiwuor said he was ready to face her and other aspirants in the contest for the Nairobi Senate seat, insisting that her decision would not make him abandon his bid.

“Winnie’s entry into the race makes it even more exciting, competitive and serious because the other people who announced their bid were not serious. Baba (Raila) did not bring us up to be afraid of anything. We are going to the wire. There is no giving up," he said.

Further, Odiwuor described Winnie’s decision to run as her democratic right, insisting that all interested aspirants should compete for their respective party’s ticket through a free and fair nomination process

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“If she is finding her space in this senatorial bid, we are ready. ODM tuko tayari and it is her democratic right to vie just like any other aspirant,” he said.

Odiwuor has previously received public backing from President William Ruto, who is also the chair of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), for the Nairobi Senate seat. However, the Lang’ata MP dismissed the possibility of jumping ship, insisting that he would remain in ODM and support whoever secures the party ticket if he loses the nominations.

“I am a member of ODM and a member of the broad-based government, and that is where we will fight. If I don’t get the ticket during the nominations, I will support the person who gets it,” the MP said.