On Tuesday November 10, 2026 Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja travelled to Nyando in Kisumu County to meet Luo cultural leader Ker Odungi Randa, a visit that follows his recent shift from the United Democratic Alliance to the Orange Democratic Movement.
The Luo Council of Elders received Sakaja at Randa’s home, where they formally adopted him as an Ochieng Ondugi Randa and urged Luo voters to back his 2027 re-election bid, citing his association with the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Ker Randa said, “If you loved Baba Raila, vote for Ochieng Sakaja, because Baba Raila was with him.”
Prior to the Kisumu trip, Sakaja secured endorsements from senior ODM figures, meeting Dr Ida Odinga, party leader Dr Oburu Oginga Odinga and the ODM executive led by Dr Oduor Ongwen. He told reporters that moving from UDA to ODM does not break the broad-based government arrangement that also backs President William Ruto, describing it as “changing rooms in the same house.”
The governor arrived with members of his County Executive Committee and several Nairobi County Assembly members, and also paid a courtesy call on Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o, who called the engagement historic as the first visit by a sitting Nairobi governor to Kisumu.
The meeting was held privately under heavy security, with elders present including Deputy James Ayaga and communication director Ajiki Jotham. Sakaja’s invitation came during the burial of the late former Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang’s wife.
His realignment comes as the 2027 Nairobi gubernatorial race draws twelve candidates, among them CS Geoffrey Ruku, Kasarani MP Ronald Karauri on a UDA ticket, Babu Owino’s Linda Mwananchi movement, Bishop Margaret Wanjiru and Embakasi North MP James Gakuya. The electorate of about 2.4 million registered voters is ethnically split, with the Kikuyu (GEMA) bloc estimated at 40-45 percent, Luo at 15-18 percent, Luhya at 13-15 percent and Kamba at 10-12 percent.
Sakaja’s strategy relies on securing the Luo vote through his ODM affiliation and adding his own Luhya support to reach roughly a 30 percent base, while hoping fragmentation among GEMA candidates will lower the Kikuyu share. The UDA camp aims to unite the GEMA vote to capture the majority of the 45 percent bloc, seeking additional swing votes from Kamba or Kisii to challenge Sakaja’s coalition.
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