NAIROBI, Kenya Jul 24 – Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino has announced plans to launch a new national political party, signalling a major political shift as he positions himself for the 2027 General Election. Speaking during a podcast interview, Babu said he will serve as the party leader, while Siaya Governor James Orengo has agreed to take up the role of party patron. He added that the new outfit will have a national outlook, with senior leaders drawn from different regions of the country.
“We are going to form a national party. I will be the party leader, Orengo will be the patron,” Babu said, adding that the party’s full leadership lineup will be unveiled soon. The announcement comes amid growing political realignments ahead of the 2027 elections and follows months of tensions within ODM over the party’s relationship with President William Ruto’s broad-based government.
Babu and Orengo have been among leading figures associated with the “Linda Mwananchi” faction, which has taken a more critical stance toward the government’s cooperation arrangement with sections of the opposition. While Babu did not disclose the party’s name or the official launch date, the move is expected to reshape opposition politics by creating another national platform targeting young voters and leaders seeking an alternative political vehicle ahead of the next General Election. BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reshuffled top posts on Friday as he tries to boost the fortunes of his deeply unpopular government ahead of regional elections in which a far-right party could get its first state governor.Merz took office less than 15 months ago with pledges to reform and turn around Germany’s economy, Europe’s biggest, after years of stagnation.
But that economic turnaround has been slow to start. And the middle-of-the-road coalition of Merz’s center-right Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats, two traditional rivals, has yet to persuade voters that it can produce results.That has resulted in Merz’s popularity sinking to rock-bottom levels, while the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has gained support on the back of widespread discontent.Merz seizes an opportunityMerz took the opportunity to make a series of changes after a senior ally quit as the leader of his party’s parliamentary group over personal conduct that undermined his credibility. Merz plans to put his chief of staff, Thorsten Frei, in that job.The German leader said Health Minister Nina Warken will take Frei’s place at the chancellery, a post that is key to the smooth functioning of the government.
She will be the first woman to take that job. Another close ally, Carsten Linnemann, the general secretary of Merz’s Christian Democratic Union party, will become health minister.Merz said there will be further Cabinet changes, but didn’t offer details. He said those decisions will take “a few days yet, and perhaps more time.”“The personnel changes follow a clear line,” he said.
“We want a government that works with great vigor and pleasure and also represents the personal diversity of our society and politics. We are a reform government and want to continue showing that.”Difficult regional elections are aheadThe governing parties face three difficult regional elections in September. In the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt on Sept.
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