How Sifuna's tribunal snub may have shaped his ouster
Explainers
By
Esther Nyambura
| Jun 24, 2026
The decision by embattled ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna to skip the party’s disciplinary tribunal and send his lawyers instead may have sealed his fate, according to the party’s Director of Communication, Philip Etale.
Speaking on Spice FM, Etale argued that: "We do not choose whom to appear before. If a committee or a tribunal has been formed to probe a particular matter, you just appear, argue your case, and you will be given a fair hearing."
He noted that if Sifuna had appeared in person to argue his case, the outcome might have been different. Instead, his absence left the tribunal with a clear path to deliver its verdict.
“He ought to have appeared, argued his case and perhaps it would have been considered. Failure to appear gave the tribunal the opportunity to give the verdict and the determination that they did,” said Etale.
According to him, this is not the first time the Senator has bypassed opportunities to defend himself.
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In March, Sifuna allegedly skipped a special National Delegates Convention (NDC), missing a window to address internal grievances.
"In that special NDC, everybody was invited, and some decided to skip it. Had they appeared, they would have pleaded their case," Etale added.
As a result, the Nairobi Senator was removed as ODM's Secretary General and replaced by Catherine Omanyo, a decision that was quashed by the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT), directing that the matter be resolved internally.
On June 22, ODM's NEC ratified the removal of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as Secretary-General, following the adoption of recommendations by the party’s Internal Dispute Resolution Committee.
The Committee chairperson, Felix Ogeto, noted that Sifuna was formally notified of the allegations against him and repeatedly invited to appear before the committee, including hearings scheduled on April 10 and April 20.
“We granted ample opportunity for the respondent to be heard, and we were prepared to listen to his side of the story,” he said.
He added that at one point, Sifuna’s legal representative, senior counsel Isaac Okero, indicated that he had no instructions to proceed.
“His counsel stated he had no instructions to appear or proceed with the hearing,” Ogeto said.
According to Ogeto, the committee, therefore, had to decide based on what was before them.
Etale's sentiments come a day after the lawmaker vowed to return to court to challenge the fresh decision by the Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) National Executive Committee (NEC) to oust him. Sifuna insisted the move is unlawful, mirroring an earlier removal attempt that was recently made.
However, he (Etale) maintained that the NEC's decision was fully aligned with the party constitution. Framing the ouster as the culmination of a prolonged internal process rather than an abrupt political ambush.