The Orange Democratic Movement top leaders made the surprise call after a long and heated meeting that stretched late into the night on Thursday.
The party’s Central Management Committee gathered at the Swiss-Belinn Hotel in Nairobi on April 16 and spent seven full hours going over their frustrations with the ruling United Democratic Alliance.
Party leader Oburu Odinga chaired the session, and the room stayed tense from start to finish. By the end the committee agreed to put all talks about a possible 2027 alliance on hold until things change on the other side. Members received clear instructions to stop campaigning for President William Ruto’s re-election until their concerns get sorted out.
ODM officials said they felt disrespected and deliberately undermined. They pointed to senior figures in UDA who kept making public remarks that stirred worry inside their own ranks.
Some UDA leaders had even reached out to ODM members of parliament and tried to lure them into running on the ruling party ticket instead. That kind of move crossed a line according to the ODM team.
One senior official who attended the meeting put it plainly. “Our focus now is on ODM. We are not going to engage in coalition talks with people who have no respect for us and our party.”
The leadership also named specific demands before any future discussions can resume. They want President Ruto to step in and calm his own people. Deputy Secretary General Catherine Omanyo read out the official statement and stressed that the party demands respect from the UDA side.
She mentioned unwarranted public utterances by some senior officials of the UDA party aimed at causing anxiety and disquiet among our members. The committee decided that Oburu Odinga, along with co-deputy leader Simba Arati and national chairman Gladys Wanga, would arrange an urgent face-to-face meeting with Ruto to lay everything on the table.
This decision marks a sharp turn in the relationship between the two parties. Earlier both sides had asked their national executive committees to start exploring a coalition for the next general election. Now that plan sits on ice. ODM says it will use the coming months to build its own strength instead of chasing an alliance.
The party plans countrywide youth conventions starting in Nairobi on April 20 and then Mombasa on April 26. A joint retreat for top leaders is set for May 1 to 3. They also promised free and fair nominations with no sacred cows and congratulated members for finishing most grassroots elections peacefully.
The move comes at a delicate time for Kenyan politics. ODM has watched its traditional strongholds come under pressure, and some younger members have grown restless. By pausing talks the party hopes to protect its base and remind supporters where their loyalty should lie.
At the same time, the leadership knows the 2027 race will be tough, and many ordinary Kenyans want to see cooperation rather than endless fighting. The suspension leaves the door open, but only if the UDA shows real willingness to listen.
For regular voters watching from home, the news feels familiar. Political parties often talk about unity until something goes wrong, and then the blame game starts.
Some said ODM is right to stand firm, while others worried that more division will only hurt ordinary citizens who just want stable leadership and better living conditions.
The coming days will show whether the two sides can patch things up or whether the gap grows wider. ODM has made its position clear, and the ball now sits in President Ruto’s court. If the urgent meeting happens and produces results, the suspension could prove short-lived.
If not, the 2027 landscape may look very different from what many expected just a few weeks ago. Kenyans will keep a close eye on what happens next because in politics a single decision like this can shift the entire game.
