A power struggle and competing political ambitions among top officials of the Linda Mwananchi movement have spilled into the open, threatening to derail the opposition outfit’s burgeoning national momentum.
Perceived mistrust and a battle for control of the movement’s 2027 election vehicle are at the heart of an apparent disagreement between Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino.
Emerging camps within the movement are divided over the party Mr Sifuna should use for his presidential bid, with the dispute exposing deeper questions over who controls the fledgling political formation and who gets to shape its 2027 agenda.
Internal strain emerges within Linda Mwananchi amid competing political interests
On one side, Mr Owino wants Mr Sifuna to run on his yet-to-be-unveiled Mwananchi Party, while Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya wants the Nairobi senator to use Ukombozi People’s Party (UPP).
Mr Owino is said to have acquired former Kitui Governor Kivutha Kibwana’s Muungano Party for rebranding as Mwananchi Party. Similarly, Mr Natembeya is rebranding the United Democratic Party (UDP), formerly associated with the late Cyrus Jirongo, to UPP.
The party tussle has been complicated by regional interests pitting leaders from Nyanza and Western Kenya, as well as Siaya Governor James Orengo’s declaration that he intends to challenge Mr Sifuna for the movement’s presidential ticket.
There is also the broader question of who will be the movement’s supreme political leader, with Mr Sifuna’s emergence as its most prominent face reportedly unsettling some senior leaders who feel they should have an equal role and share of the political credit.
Linda Mwananchi leaders now prioritise individual interests ahead of 2027 elections
Although there have been murmurs of bad blood between Mr Owino and some politicians from Western Kenya, the well-attended political rally in Nairobi on Sunday appears to have brought the simmering tensions into the public arena.
Mr Owino on Tuesday explained the genesis of the dispute, saying the fight was essentially about the political vehicle to be used by the ODM breakaway team in the 2027 elections.
He said he acquired a political party earlier this year and had been preparing to contest the Nairobi governorship on its ticket even before Linda Mwananchi was formed.
He further explained that he and three other members of Linda Mwananchi had initially been tasked with securing a political party. Saboti MP Caleb Amisi already had a party, he said, while the other two members’ parties had not yet been registered.
Mr Amisi later left the group after a disagreement with some of the leaders, leaving Mr Owino’s party among those being considered.
“Another member came up with the Ukombozi People’s Party and I called Mr Sifuna. I asked him about the Ukombozi People’s Party and my party. Sifuna told me there was no problem if we had a coalition, but he was to be a party leader on his side and I would also lead my party,” said Mr Owino.
“After that, there has been push and pull about the political party he would use. I have made a decision that we have one political party, but if it can’t happen, then we should have a coalition because it is coalitions that have won elections in this country,” he added.
The MP insisted that he would not compromise on the issue and would seek to contest the Nairobi governorship on his own party’s ticket.
Opposition leaders from left; Kisii County Senator Richard Onyonka, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Jubilee Deputy Party Leader Dr. Fred Matiang'i, Siaya Governor James Orengo and Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino after emerging from a private, closed-door session at Hermosa Hotel in Karen on September 10, 2026.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation
“Rigathi Gachagua and Kawira Mwangaza were impeached because of a lack of their own party. Mwangaza told me not to compromise on the deputy governor and having MCAs,” he said.
Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, a close ally of Mr Sifuna, yesterday held a meeting with Mr Owino in what sources said was an attempt to reconcile the two. He, however, dismissed reports of a serious rift, blaming the State for trying to divide the movement through “sponsored propaganda”. He described the disagreements as small and normal challenges that arise within political parties and movements.
“Why are people trying to create a dispute where there is none? We want to tell our supporters that there is no cause for alarm. It is the State that is trying so hard to divide us,” said Mr Osotsi.
The senator added that the movement still had time to agree on the party through which its candidates would contest the 2027 elections.
“Why are we being pushed to make decisions about our party and coalition? Everything in politics is about timing. We will make the right decision at the right time,” he told the Nation , while describing Mr Owino as an important factor in Mr Sifuna’s presidential bid.
Leaders of Kenyan opposition movement Linda Mwananchi Edwin Sifuna, James Orengo and Babu Owino ride on a caravan ahead of a rally in preparation for 2027 General Elections in Nairobi, Kenya September 13, 2026.
Photo credit: Thomas Mukoya | Reuters
Multiple sources said a section of Western Kenya leaders within the opposition outfit had convinced Mr Sifuna to use UPP to contest the presidency. The party is expected to be officially launched on October 1, when its officials will also be unveiled. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has set October 15 as the deadline for aspirants to present the political parties they intend to use in the next General Election.
A senior official of the movement from Western Kenya accused Mr Owino of seeking to outshine Mr Sifuna and pressure him into using his party.
“Even with his new party, he is going nowhere and will not win even the Nairobi gubernatorial seat. He claims he is a mobiliser, but the truth is that people are turning out at our meetings because they love Sifuna. Babu can as well leave and chart his own political path,” the official said.
“Without Sifuna, Babu can’t go anywhere in politics. You can’t force Sifuna to use your party and control him the way you want just because you were popular when you were in ODM with him,” he added.
Mr Amisi, who left the camp and subsequently formed the People’s Renaissance Movement, has also been vocal in blaming those he says derailed what was once a stable political outfit. He said Mr Owino’s remarks had vindicated him. He claimed that his party had initially been lined up as the vehicle to be used in the 2027 elections.
“But greedy individuals joined, messed up Sifuna, removed me from WhatsApp groups and branded my party a mole and wheelbarrow so that people could shun it,” he said.
“Before Natembeya, Jack Wamboka, Osotsi and Orengo, this thing was working well. It is not late; we need to go back there. We cannot afford to lose this war of our generation. All the past three liberation generations won. We cannot be the only generation that lost,” he added.
Mr Amisi said he had chosen to remain silent because he had information about intrigues within Linda Mwananchi that were “earth-shaking” and could even bring down families and political careers.
Funyula MP Oundo Midenyo, however, downplayed the dispute, saying there were several political parties available and that Mr Sifuna would eventually contest the presidency on a popular platform.
“But rest assured that we have parties that are willing to accommodate Sifuna without conditions,” he told the Nation. “Babu’s party was not the preferred party for all of us. Some are from ODM, Wiper, DAP and Kawira Mwangaza’s party.”
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and other Linda Mwananchi leaders arrive at Jacaranda Grounds in Nairobi, for a public rally, on Sunday 13, 2026.
Photo credit: Dennis onsongo | Nation Media Group
Kabuchai MP Majimbo Kalasinga also appeared to question Mr Owino’s decision to run on his own party.
“Why can’t Babu allow Sifuna to be the party leader of his party if he truly supports him for the presidency? Sifuna must be on the ballot in 2027, and we shall soon know the party,” he said.
Posts on Natembeya Mashinani, a social media blog associated with Mr Natembeya, have also painted a picture of growing tensions within the formation. In recent weeks, the posts have promoted UPP and insisted that Mr Sifuna must be on the ballot.
At the Jacaranda rally in Nairobi, questions were raised over protocol after Mr Owino invited Mr Sifuna to speak first, followed by other “junior” leaders, although Mr Sifuna would ordinarily have spoken last and crowned the meeting.
The organisation and management of the rally also raised questions over who was in charge, with some of Mr Owino’s supporters later taking to social media to claim that the youthful legislator had been belittled.
During Mr Sifuna’s rally in Kitale a month ago, tensions were also apparent after Bumula MP Wanami Wamboka took the microphone from Mr Owino while he was still speaking.
Tension has also emerged between the Mr Orengo and Mr Sifuna camps after the Siaya governor declared his intention to seek the presidency.
Mr Kalasinga, an ally of Mr Sifuna, accused Mr Orengo of seeking to derail the Nairobi senator’s presidential bid, saying they would not allow other senior leaders to hijack it.
The political formation has in the past couple of months attracted growing national attention by challenging the established political order, with its main agenda being to make President William Ruto a one-term president.
The expulsion of senators Sifuna and Osotsi from their positions in the ODM party and Senate leadership further fuelled their prominence within the opposition movement.
A July Tifa survey found that Mr Sifuna’s support, should he vie for the presidency, stood at 15 per cent, within months of his first hinting at the possibility of challenging President Ruto.
