How Sifuna ouster drive has lost steam

ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna during a meeting with Mombasa party grassroots leaders on November 1, 2025. [Robert Menza, Standard]

Senate Minority Leader and Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo has called for dialogue between warring factions within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), warning that public spats among senior leaders risk eroding the party’s standing ahead of the 2027 elections.

Madzayo expressed concern over unchecked public exchanges, mudslinging and verbal slurs involving ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna and National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohammed, saying the row was damaging the party’s image.

“ODM must never become a party that tells its members to leave. That is not who we are. When there are disagreements, the answer is not expulsion, or threats. The answer is strengthening party organs, reinforcing discipline, and recommitting ourselves to internal democracy,” he said.

He urged candid and mature internal engagement, calling on members to speak freely but within party structures so that grievances are aired, addressed and resolved — not weaponised in public. Speaking at a press briefing in Nairobi, Madzayo warned that unless urgent action was taken, ODM risked entering 2027 amid heightened tensions that could undermine free and fair elections.

“…That would be a betrayal of everything ODM has stood for since its inception. ODM is bigger than any individual. It survived because of Baba Raila’s commitment to dialogue and principles. The greatest honour we can give him is to protect that legacy, not tear it down,” he added.

His remarks came a day after Migori Senator Eddy Oketch lodged a petition seeking the removal of Sifuna from party leadership. In a letter dated January 5, 2026, Oketch accused Sifuna of disclosing confidential information about ODM’s 2022 presidential campaign funding and publicly rejecting the party’s support for the broad-based government arrangement with President William Ruto.

He sought Sifuna’s suspension as secretary-general, removal from parliamentary leadership positions and deregistration from party membership, citing gross misconduct, breach of the ODM Constitution and violation of the Political Parties Act.

The petition drew swift backlash. Suba South MP Caroli Omondi dismissed it as baseless and “reckless”.

“Senator Eddy Oketch is once again the complainant against his colleague Senator Edwin Sifuna over allegations that have no legal legs to stand on,” Omondi wrote on X, warning that similar past efforts had failed.

Oketch has since withdrawn the petition, citing consultations with party leader Oburu Oginga. In a January 6 letter addressed to ODM Chairperson Gladys Wanga, his lawyers said the withdrawal followed Odinga’s invocation of Article 16(1)(g) of the party constitution, which allows for amicable dispute resolution.

“Being cognizant of the breaches as outlined in our aforementioned letter and the offensive remarks made by Senator Edwin Sifuna… our client has… been persuaded to withdraw the motion,” the letter stated, citing the late Raila Odinga’s preference for dialogue.

The developments come amid renewed calls by a section of ODM MPs for Oburu to convene a National Executive Committee meeting to arrest what they described as growing “self-cannibalisation” within the party.