ODM Demands Answers from Uhuru After Claims Raila Won 2022 Election

ODM Demands Answers from Uhuru After Claims Raila Won 2022 Election

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has demanded an explanation from former President Uhuru Kenyatta after he said he remains convinced that the late Raila Odinga won the 2022 presidential election.

ODM questioned why Uhuru had chosen to revisit the disputed election more than four years after the August 9, 2022 polls, particularly after the electoral dispute was taken through the constitutional and judicial process.

The party said Uhuru’s remarks had reopened questions about the transfer of power to President William Ruto, who was declared the winner by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

In a statement issued on Wednesday, September 23, ODM asked why the former president did not publicly raise the issue at the time if he believed the election had produced a different outcome.

The party also questioned why his administration facilitated the transfer of power to Ruto after the election.

“What exactly does President Kenyatta expect the Kenyan people to do with this information today?”

ODM said elections concern the sovereign will of citizens and the legitimacy of government, adding that the latest remarks had revived strong emotions among members and supporters who backed Raila’s presidential bid.

The party said Uhuru should provide a fuller account of what he knew about the 2022 election and the circumstances surrounding the eventual transfer of power.

“If he was convinced that Raila Odinga had won, why did his government facilitate the transfer of the instruments of power to a person he believed had not won?”

Uhuru made the remarks on Tuesday during a Jubilee Party National Executive Committee meeting in Nairobi, where he also formally handed over party leadership to former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i pending ratification by the party’s National Delegates Convention.

The retired president said Jubilee and its allies had done everything possible to support Raila’s presidential campaign and maintained that he believed the former opposition leader had secured victory.

“We did everything to help Baba become the President of the Republic of Kenya. And he got the votes, and to this day, I know that he is the one who won that election.”

Uhuru’s statement represents his position on the election, but it does not alter the official or legal outcome of the 2022 presidential contest.

The IEBC declared Ruto the winner with 7,176,141 votes, representing 50.49% of the vote, while Raila received 6,942,930 votes, equivalent to 48.85%.

Raila challenged the presidential results before the Supreme Court alongside other petitioners. On September 5, 2022, the court unanimously dismissed the petitions and upheld Ruto’s election as president.

ODM acknowledged that the party had accepted the judicial outcome after exhausting the available constitutional avenues.

However, the party said Uhuru’s latest comments had reopened an issue it had previously chosen to leave behind.

The controversy has also drawn a response from Raila’s family. His younger brother, Omondi Oginga, criticised the renewed discussion, saying the family should be allowed to mourn the former opposition leader, who died in October 2025.

“We are not happy with whatever happened, and there’s no need for him to talk about the results that happened some years back.”

The renewed debate comes as Kenyan political parties and leaders increasingly turn their attention to the 2027 General Election.

For ODM, the central question now is not simply whether Uhuru believes Raila won, but why the former president has chosen to make the claim publicly years after the election and after the Supreme Court settled the legal challenge.

The party has therefore called on Uhuru to provide the wider context behind his remarks and explain what he knew at the time of the 2022 election and transition of power.

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ODM Demands Answers from Uhuru After Claims Raila Won 2022 Election