The Sifuna Schism: Is ODM’s Secretary General a Saboteur or a Strategic Liability?
In the high-stakes theater of Kenyan politics, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has long stood as a monolith of disciplined opposition and ideological consistency. However, the recent erratic and arguably unbecoming conduct of its Secretary General, Senator Edwin Sifuna, suggests a party not just in transition, but in the throes of a deliberate, internal demolition.
From the solemn grounds of the late Cyrus Jirongo’s burial in Lugari
to the volatile political atmosphere of Makomboki in Murang’a on January 3, 2026, Sifuna has
traded his role as the party’s "custodian of secrets" for that of a
public laundryman. As an analyst who has tracked the rise and fall of party
kingpins, I find Sifuna’s current trajectory to be a masterclass in how to
dismantle a political house from the inside.
The cardinal rule of political leadership is simple: Boardroom battles stay in the
boardroom. Yet, at the funeral of MP James Gakuya’s mother in Murang’a,
Sifuna chose a moment of grief to launch a vitriolic attack on Hon. Junet Mohamed, the party’s
Director of Elections and a man who has been at the very heart of the
"Baba" inner circle for decades.
To stand before mourners and accuse Junet of embezzling
agent funds during the 2022 General Election is not an act of transparency; it
is an act of political fratricide. By airlifting the "agents' money"
scandal into the public domain, Sifuna is essentially telling the world that
ODM is a party governed by watapeli (conmen). If a Secretary
General cannot protect the integrity of his own party’s history, he has
effectively forfeited his moral authority to lead.
Perhaps more concerning is the ideological "flirting"
Sifuna is currently engaging in. His presence at the Murang’a burial—appearing
alongside the deposed Deputy President Rigathi
Gachagua—has sent shockwaves through the Azimio rank and file.
The optics were unmistakable: Sifuna validated the
narrative of the "besieged Murima" while simultaneously labelling his
own party colleagues who support the Broad-Based Government as washenzi. By cozying
up to Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP),
Sifuna is signalling to the Mountain that he is ready to be a
"project" for hire. This move betrays the spirit of the late Raila Odinga, who spent his final months attempting to steer the party
toward national stability—a stability Sifuna now seems intent on rocking.
As an analyst, I see a sinister undertone in the recent
movements of the trio—Sifuna, Godfrey
Osotsi, and Caleb Amisi. Under the guise of "Luhya
consciousness," these leaders appear to be deliberately branding ODM as a
"Luo party" to justify a mass walkout. This is a classic "poison
the well" tactic: make the brand toxic to your community so you can lead
them into a new "tribal" vehicle under the pretext of being
marginalized.
By clashing with the new party leadership, specifically Hon. Oburu Oginga, Sifuna is
manufacturing a crisis that doesn’t exist. He is attempting to portray the
Oginga family as "hijackers" of the party, conveniently forgetting
that it was the Oginga name and the "Orange" platform that gave him
the national prominence he now uses to disparage them.
Leadership is measured by how many people you bring to
the table, not how many you shout away. Sifuna’s cantankerous attitude and
tendency to fall over his own head in disparaging senior officials is tearing
the party into tatters. A Secretary General should be a unifier, not a divider
who uses public rallies to settle personal scores with the party’s organizing
machinery.
The Orange Democratic Movement stands at a crossroads. A
Secretary General who spends his weekends apologizing to retired leaders for
his party’s "ingratitude" while simultaneously accusing his
colleagues of theft is a liability the party cannot afford.
If
ODM is to survive the 2027 cycle, it must act with surgical precision. Sifuna
has clearly outgrown his loyalty to the party's founding principles. The faster
the party leadership "defrocks" him and rescues the Secretary
General's office from this circus, the sooner ODM can begin to heal. Sifuna has
shown his hand: he is a man working for a different master.
It is time for ODM to show him the door.
Ndungata
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