ODM’s Edwin Sifuna to vie for Nairobi Senate seat in 2022

ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna. [David Njaaga, Standard]

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna will vie for the Nairobi Senate seat in 2022.  

Sifuna announced his candidature on his social media pages on Thursday, adding that he will be voting at Loresho Primary School in Westlands, Nairobi.

“I will be vying for the Nairobi County Senatorial seat in 2022 on an ODM ticket,” he said.

I will henceforth vote at Loresho Primary School in Westlands Constituency.

I will be vying for the Nairobi County Senatorial seat in 2022 on @TheODMparty Ticket.#Inawezekana

— Edwin Sifuna (@edwinsifuna) December 16, 2021

Sifuna will be seeking to replace Johnson Sakaja, who has expressed interest in the Governor seat next year.

Sakaja will be contesting against Bishop Margaret Wanjiru, Westlands MP Timothy Wanyonyi and Kenya Chamber of Commerce chairperson Richard Ngatia who have shown interest in the governor seat.

It will be the third time the lawyer will be running for political office.

In 2017, Sifuna lost in the Kanduyi ODM seat during primaries to lawyer John Makali.

He would then throw his hat into the ring again for the Nairobi Senate seat in the same year but lost to Jubilee’s Johnson Sakaja.

At the time of publication, no other persons officially expressed interest in the Nairobi Senator seat.

Sifuna, known to shoot from the hip, whether in law or politics, is seen by some as a rising star and others as eating away at the sweat of political honchos in the Orange party.

In December 2020, he was forced to apologise to Malindi Member of Parliament Aisha Jumwa over controversial remarks he had made during by-election campaigns in Msambweni, Kwale County.

The ODM secretary-general was, consequently, summoned by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) over the remarks, which he was accused of advocating for sexual violence.

But the lawyer has also appeared in the political scene in recent months, commenting on ODM’s stand on the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) and urging the electorate not to vote for a candidate based on their community.