The Linda Wananchi movement has announced plans to transform itself into a fully fledged political party and field its own presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Speaking during a televised interview on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, Suba South MP Caroli Omondi said the group could no longer continue operating within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and needed to provide clarity to supporters who are demanding political change.
“I think we have reached a point where we have to clearly give our supporters and the nation more details about what our plans are,” Omondi said.
“There is a lot of support for Linda Wananchi, and there is a very strong desire for change.”
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Omondi announced that the movement would establish its own political party, arguing that its continued stay in ODM had become untenable.
“Linda Wananchi started off as a breakaway from ODM in terms of the broad-based arrangement. We did not agree with it,” he said, referring to the cooperation framework between late ODM party leader Raila Odinga and President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.
He said the movement had since grown beyond the original group of ODM dissidents and was now attracting supporters from other political parties.
Standalone Linda Mwananchi party
According to Omondi, the plan has two distinct levels: the creation of a standalone Linda Wananchi party and the formation of a broader opposition coalition.
“We will have our own party as Linda Wananchi, and we will nominate Edwin Sifuna as the presidential candidate of our party,” he declared.
Omondi added that Siaya Governor James Orengo would serve as party leader, while Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and other officials would lead negotiations with opposition parties to build what he described as a “grand coalition of parties.”
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“That is clear,” Omondi said when asked about Sifuna’s nomination. “James Orengo, Babu Owino and the team we will put together will negotiate with the opposition to form a grand coalition of parties.”
He said the movement was looking to emulate the opposition unity that brought together multiple parties in 2002 and ended KANU’s four-decade hold on power.
“We want to move the way we did in 2002 because Kenyans want change,” he said.
The movement emerged after a group of senior ODM figures opposed the party’s decision to work with President Ruto under the broad-based government arrangement that followed the 2024 anti-government protests and subsequent political negotiations
