President William Ruto has firmly rejected invitations to rejoin the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) during the party's founders dinner in Mombasa. Speaking as a founding member, he reaffirmed his loyalty to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) while pledging support for the broad-based government. Ruto also shared details of his last official discussion with the late Raila Odinga on transforming Kenya into a first-world nation.
The ODM Founders Dinner took place in Mombasa on Saturday night, November 15, 2025. President Ruto, who co-founded ODM and once served as its deputy leader, addressed calls from ODM Deputy Party Leader Simba Arati to return to the party. Arati had urged Ruto on October 20, five days after Raila Odinga's demise, stating, “The President yesterday said he is going to ensure that ODM remains the party it is. I want to urge him today, Mheshimiwa Ruto, you were a founding member of ODM. How I wish that you would come back to your former party.” Arati added that Ruto would automatically become the party's presidential candidate for 2027 if he rejoined.
On October 25, Arati extended similar invitations to former President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, saying, "As the deputy party leader, we have told President William Ruto to come back to ODM. We also want to tell Uhuru Kenyatta and even Kalonzo, who was also in ODM, to come back to honour Raila Odinga by coming back to ODM so that we can win in 2027."
Ruto, wearing a yellow Kaunda suit symbolizing UDA and an orange hat for ODM, joked about his attire to balance loyalties. “Earlier today, I was in Kitui, and I knew that when I come for this ODM meeting, Simba Arati will start telling me to join ODM because he is used to saying it,” he said. “I knew the UDA members would think I had left them, so I decided to wear yellow so that they could see I was still with them. But I had to mix with orange so that they can see I am still broad-based. I hear the Ukambani colour is also yellow, so I started in Kitui, then I came here.”
Despite rejecting rejoining, Ruto committed his administration to supporting ODM, noting party members in his Cabinet. He also revealed details of his last official meeting with Raila Odinga, attended by Kisumu Governor Anyang' Nyong'o and Professor Hiroyuki Hino. The discussion focused on elevating Kenya from a third-world to a first-world country. “The last meeting I had with Baba, Anyang Nyong'o was there, and Hino was there. We had sat down to craft how to move Kenya from a third-world country to a first-world country,” Ruto said.
Key topics included generating 10,000 megawatts of energy, with instructions already given to Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, and infrastructure improvements such as extending highways, building a new airport, and tarmacking 10,000 more kilometers of roads. Ruto noted ongoing collaboration with Nyong'o to draft a framework in Raila's honor. This aligns with Ruto's broader campaign, where he stated last month during a church meeting, “By God’s grace, we have been in the third world for far too long... to move this country from a third-world to a first-world country in the next 30 years.”