Millie Odhiambo Warns Broad-Based Govt’s Arrogance Will Cost It After Ol Kalou Loss
Millie Odhiambo to Broad-Based Govt: "We Are Very Arrogant, We Don't Listen"
Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo has turned the broad-based government’s crushing loss in the Ol Kalou by-election into a warning shot. Speaking on Friday, July 17, the National Assembly Minority Chief Whip said the defeat was no accident. It was the direct result of leaders who stopped listening to ordinary Kenyans, and she’s not staying quiet about it just because her party sits inside the arrangement.
“We are very arrogant as leaders”
Odhiambo made clear that being ODM’s whip doesn’t mean she’ll defend bad conduct. She said concerns she and others raised inside the coalition kept getting brushed aside, and Ol Kalou is what happens when that keeps up. As per Tuko, she put it bluntly: “We are very arrogant as leaders. We don’t listen to people.”
She also addressed being told to fall in line, using the Swahili phrase “nimekaa nyamakara” to describe how some in political circles have tried to paint her as overstepping. Her response was short. She’s not the kind of person who intimidates easily.
What Ol Kalou actually showed
Odhiambo said the by-election proved old political playbooks don’t work anymore. Leaders can’t lean on inherited alliances or big-name backing to win votes, she argued. What matters now is turnout and whether people feel their concerns are being addressed.
She also pointed to a shift in the political landscape itself. The government used to count on Raila Odinga’s pull to hold the coalition together, but with Raila gone, she said the responsibility now falls on leaders to deliver for people directly.
The numbers behind the defeat
The by-election came about after Ol Kalou MP David Kiaraho died in March 2026. Nine candidates were cleared to run, but it came down to three names. DCP’s Sammy Kamau Waweru won with 35,440 votes, well clear of UDA’s Samuel Muchina Nyagah on 5,450, and the result has been widely described as a heavy blow for the ruling party. Jubilee’s Wilson Kigwa trailed a distant third with 198 votes.
The result is being read as an early signal ahead of 2027, both for how much sway President Ruto still holds in Mt Kenya and for whether Rigathi Gachagua’s DCP can turn that momentum into a real challenge. Odhiambo’s comments add pressure from inside the coalition itself, at a moment the broad-based arrangement can least afford it.
