The late ODM Party leader Raila Odinga may have been preparing to hand over the political baton to a younger generation much earlier than many Kenyans realised, according to Jubilee Deputy Party Leader (Operations) Jeremiah Kioni.
Kioni says the former Prime Minister had privately told a group of political allies soon after the 2022 General Election that he was ready to end his active political career and wanted younger leaders to start looking for someone who could lead the next presidential campaign.
Speaking during an interview with a local radio station on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, Kioni recalled a meeting in Mombasa where Raila brought together a small group of politicians following the election.
According to Kioni, Raila used the meeting to tell the younger politicians that the responsibility of shaping the next phase of the opposition would be theirs.
“Immediately after the 2022 elections, Raila assembled a few of us in Mombasa, and he said he was done with politics. He said, ‘It is time for you young people to start running around and getting a person. Organise yourselves to run in 2027,'” Kioni said.
The remarks, Kioni said, convinced him that Raila had no intention of making another attempt at the presidency.
“And in my mind I knew he was not going to run,” Kioni said.
He maintained that Raila’s decision was not dependent on what happened in the years that followed, saying he believed the former Prime Minister would still have stayed away from the 2027 presidential contest had he survived.
“Even if Raila were alive today, he wasn’t going to run,” he added.
Kioni’s account comes against the backdrop of Raila’s long political career and his continued involvement in national politics after the 2022 election.
Raila remained at the centre of politics
Although Kioni says Raila had told his allies that he was ready to leave active politics, the former Prime Minister remained involved in major political developments after the election.
Raila continued to mobilise opposition supporters and challenge the Kenya Kwanza administration, maintaining a strong presence in the country’s political scene.
He also shifted part of his attention to continental politics by seeking the African Union Commission chairmanship in 2024. His campaign succeeded in February 2025 when he was elected to head the continental body after receiving support from AU member states.
At home, Raila later entered into a political cooperation arrangement with President William Ruto.
The two leaders signed an agreement in March 2025 that covered areas such as national unity, governance, constitutional implementation and development.
The agreement was met with criticism from sections of the Azimio coalition, with some leaders questioning Raila’s decision to work with the government.
Kioni was also critical of the arrangement and said Jubilee, as part of Azimio, should have been included in the discussions.
In March 2025, he argued that Raila should have negotiated with the government on behalf of the wider coalition instead of pursuing the arrangement through ODM.
Kioni had previously raised questions about the direction Raila’s politics took after the 2022 election.
In 2025, he criticised Raila over what he described as the exclusion of some of the politicians who had supported his presidential campaign and travelled across the country seeking votes for him.
“We traversed the country campaigning and mobilising votes for Raila. We were all over as Azimio looking for votes. Even if you have decided to leave, why not inform those who have been with you?” Kioni said at the time.
The remarks came as political parties that had supported Raila’s 2022 bid faced a new reality following the election and the changes that later emerged in the opposition camp.
Raila died in October 2025 while undergoing medical treatment in India, ending a political career that had made him one of the most prominent figures in Kenya’s post-independence politics.
His death removed him from the 2027 presidential race and left his political allies facing the difficult task of determining who would occupy the space he had held for years.
Raila had contested for the presidency in 1997, 2007, 2013, 2017 and 2022, making him a familiar figure in successive election cycles.
The 2027 election will therefore take place without the veteran opposition leader on the ballot, opening a new chapter for politicians who had worked alongside him.
Kioni’s account now suggests that Raila had himself begun thinking about that transition shortly after the 2022 election, when he reportedly told younger leaders to organise and find a new person to carry the presidential contest forward.