The rise and rise of Sifuna to a Presidential candidate

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna's rise to a Presidential candidate under the Equitable Party (TEP) ticket was accelerated after he was kicked out as the ODM Party Secretary General.

Sifuna was also kicked out of his leadership position as the Senate Deputy Minority Whip in what was attributed to his opposition to President William Ruto re-election bid.

Political leaders allied to ODM Party Leader Oburu Odinga removed Sifuna from the position because they perceived of him as being disrespectful to the party leadership and for giving out his personal opinions as the official party position on various matters.

Sifuna said that he has been to various parts of the country where Kenyans had resolved that they will not re-elect Ruto in 2027, something that informed his position that did not go down well with his colleagues in ODM who were fully behind the President’s second-term bid.

“ I was fought in the ODM Party because I said that President William Ruto should only serve for one term; any dictator can build roads and houses but it takes a patriot to build a nation; that is why we cannot afford to have Ruto in office for another five years,” said Sifuna.

The Nairobi Senator made it clear that no leader had the capacity to chase him from the ODM Party over his position, making it clear that at no point did their former Party Leader, the late Raila Odinga, tell him that they should support Ruto in 2027 like his colleagues were saying.

Sifuna is on record dismissing party leaders who have accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta of intending to support the party on condition that it moves out of the broad-based arrangement with President Ruto and joins the united opposition in readiness for the next general election.

Sifuna, who was speaking during the funeral service of former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo in Kakamega in December last year was targeting ODM National Chairperson Gladys Wanga and National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohammed, who claimed Uhuru was sponsoring divisions in the party, with him being among those being used.

“I would like to apologise to former President Uhuru Kenyatta on behalf of the ODM Party over insults hurled at him by some of our members who seem not to appreciate the role he played trying to secure a win for our Party Leader Raila Odinga in the 2022 Presidential election,” said Sifuna.

The Nairobi Senator would later allege during the funeral service of the mother of Embakasi North MP James Gakuya in Murang'a early this year that Junet contributed to Raila not winning the last Presidential election by embezzling funds meant for Party agents.

Junet refuted Sifuna’s claims that he was handling ODM agents' money saying that the funds were released by Uhuru but were being handled by his brother, Muhoho Kenyatta who in turn appointed an aide to the former President Peter Mburu to be in charge of making payments.

The Suna East MP said that it was worth noting that despite Mburu not having paid ODM agents anywhere in the country, the former President has retained him as his aide and even travelled with him to Nigeria early this year which raises a lot of questions about what really happened.

“Let me put the record straight that the late Raila Odinga would have no reason to appoint me as the National Assembly Minority Leader if he did not trust me for having betrayed him, over the years I have handled very delicate assignments on his behalf with utmost fidelity,” said Junet.

Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina who came to the defence of Junet saying that he did not misappropriate any campaign funds and that Uhuru kept the Sh 500 million meant for that purpose stating that the Nairobi Senator was not speaking the truth.

Ledama who was a harsh critic of Ruto and was even injured while trying to defend what he termed as Raila victory at Bomas of Kenya in August 2022 has now turned out to be a staunch supporter of Ruto’s re-election bid in 2027 something that has put him in a collision course with the likes of Sifuna.

“If you want to leave ODM you should go ahead and do so since nobody is stopping you from doing that, you should not wait to be kicked out because that is what is going to happen soon – enough with empty threats- this noise is getting out of hand,” said Ledama.

A State House meeting one July afternoon and a tense night meeting on the same date between 21 Azimio-aligned Senators set the pace for the removal of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as the Senate Deputy Minority Whip and replaced by Migori Senator Eddie Oketch.

A physical confrontation involving Senators on the Minority side took place in Parliament Buildings during the night meeting involving 21 Minority Senators, occurred within the precincts of Parliament at about 7 PM after they failed to agree on the removal of Senator Sifuna.

The meeting had been convened by the Senate Minority Whip, Ledama ole Kina who informed the Azimio Senators of a Parliamentary Group meeting which was to be held in his office at exactly 7.30 PM and stated that the agenda of the meeting will be shared when they arrive.

The notice to  Azimio Senators raised suspicion, particularly among Senators aligned to the Linda Mwananchi side where they mobilised under the leadership of Kitui Senator Enock Wambua and Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah after got wind of the likely agenda of the meeting

When the Senators convened, the meeting turned heated, with one of the Senators jumping on the table and attempting to punch his colleague before he was stopped after they failed to agree on the removal of Sifuna with 11 Senators out of the 21 present objecting to the decision.

Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi said that a stalemate arose after Senator Ledama declined to announce the outcome, telling those present that the process had not been concluded and that senators who were absent would be allowed to vote the following day.

“The decision by Senator Ledama refusing to declare that the Senators who were against the removal of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as the Deputy Minority Whip heightened tensions, with the Sifuna group demanding that the results be announced immediately,” said Osotsi.

Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah said those opposed to the meeting convened by Ledama questioned why it had been convened so late in the day, arguing that the notice was insufficient and should have been issued earlier and why the agenda had not been shared early enough.

According to a Senator who requested anonymity, it is this State House meeting that paved the way for the meeting at Parliament where the President directed the ODM lawmakers to remove Senator Sifuna as Deputy Minority Whip and was categorical about it.

 Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka said that it was interesting to note that the Azimio Senators meeting took place just a few hours after a meeting at State House, where Senator Oburu Oginga led a section of ODM Senators in talks with President William Ruto.

“Soon after the State House meeting, we were shocked to receive a message on the Azimio Senators WhatsApp group summoning a Parliamentary Group meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the notice was issued by the Minority Whip Senator Ledama but did not include the agenda,” said Onyonka

 The Nairobi Senator was also removed as a member of the Senate Energy Committee chaired by Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga who is the also the ODM Party Leader, last month and replaced by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang, which showed the escalating tension between them.

Sifuna had earlier been removed from the influential Senate County Public Accounts Committee and moved to the Senate Agriculture Committee in what was perceived as strategy to tame his influence.