Police condemned for teargassing Sifuna-led ODM rally in Kitengela

Police are on the spot once again for hurling teargas canisters during a peaceful Linda Mwananchi rally addressed by a team of politicians led by embattled ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna in Kitengela Town, Kajiado County, on Sunday.

The leaders allied to Sifuna had received a rousing welcome in the town with thousands of area residents turning up to receive them after they attended a church service at Saint Peter ACK Orkeju Emanya and later embarked on a tour of the cosmopolitan town.

Siaya senator James Orengo, Vihiga senator Godfrey Osotsi, Kisii senator Richard Onyonka, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi, Mavoko MP Patrick Makau, Saboti MP Caleb Amisi, Bomachoge Borabu MP Obadiah Barongo and Funyula MP Wilberforce Oundo electrified the crowd.

“We would like to thank the residents of Kitengela for turning up in large numbers in spite of  the harassment, intimidation and violence. They first destroyed our dais and sound equipment in the morning, the State goons teargassed a peaceful assembly and brought it to an abrupt end, we shall not relent,” said Sifuna.

The meeting came to an abrupt end after police launched teargas canisters, with the crowd scampering for safety before some regrouped and retaliated by stoning some police vehicles. Several residents were said to have been injured in the ensuing melee.

Osotsi, who is one of the three ODM deputy party leaders, said that despite the clear attempts to frustrate their programme, their tour of Kitengela was successful with members of the public making it clear that they were tired with President William Ruto and will vote him out of office during the 2027 General Election.

“Our otherwise peaceful and orderly crowd was dispersed with teargas, forcing an untimely end to our meeting. But the message is home that there is no turning back in the quest to Linda Mwananchi. Our determination remains unshaken and we will press on without fear or retreat,” said Osotsi.

This was the first meeting outside Nairobi for the team after the National Executive Council meeting held in Mombasa on Wednesday last week resolved to remove Sifuna from his position. He was replaced by Busia County MP Catherine Omanyo who had been serving as Deputy Secretary General.

The High Court stopped Sifuna’s removal pending the hearing and determination of the matter. The attempted ouster and its attendant revocation has since given Sifuna a new lease of life and gotten him overwhelming support across the country, including from Mama Ida Odinga, who said it was wrong to kick out some children from their home following the death of their father. 

The Nairobi senator accused President Ruto of orchestrating his removal from the party position, saying that his only mistake was opposing the broad-based government and criticising the Kenya Kwanza administration for failing to live up to the promises made to the citizens. He has vowed not to relent on his stance against the current regime.

“It is in public domain that my opposition to the party’s dalliance with Ruto started long before Raila passed on. He understood my reasons and accommodated them. It is also a known fact that, regardless of what political deals Raila struck with different regimes, he would never have allowed his beloved party to be turned into a mere appendage of State House, where decisions are rubber-stamped after instructions are received from the regime,” said Sifuna.

He has sought to assure ODM members across the country that his is not a clamour for positions but about principle. He says it is about protecting the integrity of the party and ensuring that ODM remains a democratic institution governed by rules, not impulses.

Osotsi that a few days ago he raised alarm that the ODM party is now being remote controlled from State House and that there is an attempt for hostile takeover of the party.

Orengo insisted that Sifuna remains the ODM Secretary General arguing he had served the party for nearly 10 years and has been with Raila at very  critical and crucial moments, including running the affairs of the party between two general elections of 2017 and 2022.

The Siaya governor said that when Sifuna was the Secretary General, there was not a single moment that Raila Odinga rebuked or criticized him in public in the discharge of his functions. He wondered why the current leadership should have a problem with Sifuna unless it was a plan to kill the largest political party in the country.

Youths chanted the one term slogan and many wore T shirts branded with the tag ‘Mimi ndio Sifuna’ in reference to the Nairobi senator who was cheered loudly wherever they made a stop over.

The thousands of youths chanted the Bado Mapambano tune urging Sifuna not to give up in his quest to ensure good governance in the country by ensuring that President Ruto is sent home during the 2027 general election. 

The youths carried national flags which they waved as they urged the ODM Linda Mwananchi team not to relent in its quest to ensure that Ruto does not get a second term.