ODM leader Raila Odinga urged Kenyan leaders to take bold action to safeguard national unity during the joint Kenya Kwanza–ODM Parliamentary Group meeting at the KCB Leadership Centre in Karen on Monday, August 18, 2025.

Using examples of nations that broke apart globally, Raila drew a comparison of what happened to Kenya and to nations that broke apart due to a political crisis.

He used the example of the United States, which nearly broke up in the Civil War, and Yugoslavia, which existed from 1918 until 1992 before it broke into Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Macedonia.

Raila recalled how Yugoslavia’s former president, General Josef Brostito, once joked that he was the “glue” holding the nation together – a warning that eventually came true. He also cited Somalia, which descended into collapse after Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.

The former Prime Minister noted that Kenya came close to a similar fate last year, when he said “dark clouds were gathering” over the nation.

“We decided that it is better to have an imperfect country struggling to mend its ways than to have a collapsed one,” he said. He highlighted that the purpose of Kenya Kwanza and ODM joining forces is to provide a platform for leaders to openly discuss differences and prevent national disintegration.

“Our object was and remains, as one U.S. Senator called it, our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country,” Raila said.

The opposition leader warned that in many other nations, leaders are forced to take domestic crises abroad because internal dialogue is impossible. By encouraging open discussion at home, Kenya can steer clear of the fate of failed states.