Why Sifuna's position as ODM Secretary General is at stake

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna's position as the ODM Party Secretary General is in jeopardy with a vicious political contest between those in support of the broad-based government and those against it taking shape.

Political leaders allied to ODM Party Leader Oburu Odinga are pushing to have Sifuna kicked out of the seat for what they perceive as him 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 have resolved that they will not re-elect Ruto in 2027, which has not gone down well with his colleagues in ODM who are fully behind the President’s second term bid.

“I am being fought in the ODM Party because I have 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 Senator made it clear that no leader has the capacity to chase him from 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 joining 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 last Tuesday, 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 ODM Secretary General would later allege during the funeral service of the mother of Embakasi North MP James Gakuya in Muranga on Saturday that Junet contributed to Raila not winning the last Presidential election by embezzling funds meant for Party agents.

Junet has 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 recently 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 and due diligence,” said Junet.

Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina who is tipped to replace Sifuna as the ODM Secretary General has come to the defence of Junet saying that he did not misappropriate any campaign funds and that Uhuru kept the Sh500 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 whom he has asked to leave ODM.

“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.

ODM Deputy Party Leader Godfrey Osotsi is the other leader in the top ODM hierarchy besides Sifuna who has not been amused by the two term agenda that is being supported by his Party Leader, fellow Deputy Leaders Simba Arati and Abdulswamad Nassir among others.

Osotsi said focus should be on the ten-point agenda jointly signed between ODM and UDA Parties which must be respected and implemented in both letter and spirit, as it provides a clear bipartisan roadmap for political stability, institutional strengthening and people-centred governance without reopening the Constitution.

“The ODM Party reaffirms its unwavering commitment to constitutionalism, term limits and peaceful democratic transitions and calls on our partners in government to abandon hidden agendas and instead focus on implementing agreed reforms that restore hope, accountability and dignity to the lives of Kenyans,” said Osotsi.

Wanga on her part said it was their collective responsibility to rally behind the Party and make 2026 a year of consolidation and organization stating that unity is not uniformity and that in recent days they have witnessed robust debate and differences of opinion about the direction of the party in post- Raila era.

She said that the ODM party’s resilient and tested institutions gives them the capacity to harmonise differing views and turn them into strengths by recognising that progress is only possible by committing to leave no one behind in we consolidating the vision Raila held for the country. 

“Raila could not have left instructions for every challenge we would face after his exit, what he left us with was more enduring his vision, his values, and his method of struggle, he taught us when to fight and when to retreat without losing sight of what truly matters, he taught us never to fear new horizons or difficult decisions,” said Wanga.

Political Analyst David Kiprono said that ODM has always outlived its rebels giving the example of former Secretary General Ababu Namwamba who is remembered for even failing to acknowledge former President Mwai Kibaki during the state opening of parliament in 2007. 

Kiprono noted that had President Ruto not deliberately crafted his own independent power base and offered Namwamba the greatest Secretary General ODM has ever had political refuge, he would likely have faded into irrelevance, stating that political survival in Kenya is not accidental but engineered.

The Political Analyst said that Senator Sifuna is young and energetic and that the same energy if misdirected can torpedo a political career into oblivion stating that politics rewards patience as much as brilliance noting that just like any other politician he has right of choice and association but should play his cards well.

“Today, the reality is simple, it is either UDA or ODM, every other formation is a regional dwarf, loud within its backyard but invisible nationally, the moment Ruto was ejected from Jubilee, he drowned it without sentiment, turning a once a ruling machine into a political garage for sale,” said Kiprono.