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Then-ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna during celebrations marking what would have been the 81st birthday of former Prime Minister the late Raila Odinga at his home in Karen, Nairobi, on January 7, 2025.
The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has finally fired its firebrand Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna after long-running factional wars that threatened to consume the party following the death of its leader Raila Odinga.
The radical decision to remove Mr Sifuna from the strategic position was made by the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) in a heated session that split the officials and dragged for hours.
Mr Sifuna – who skipped the NEC meeting held in Mombasa – has been replaced by the party’s Deputy Secretary General, Ms Catherine Omanyo. She will hold the position in acting capacity until a substantive holder of the position is elected.
It has emerged that minority members in the top party organ strongly opposed the decision, citing violations of the provisions of the party’s constitution. Others also proposed meditation to avoid further divisions likely to be occasioned by the sacking. Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga, who is also a member of NEC, has been a strong defender of Mr Sifuna in public.
Embattled ODM Secretary General and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna.
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Sources indicated that officials held strong views either for or against the move, turning the session into one of the most emotive meeting by the Orange party following the death of Mr Odinga in October 2025.
Article 74 of the constitution spells out the procedure of removing an official from office, which include being subjected to a disciplinary proceeding and an opportunity for one to defend themselves.
“The National Executive Committee may make such resolution suo moto or upon the recommendation of the Disciplinary Committee, Polling Unit Steering Committee, Sub-Branch Executive Committee or Branch Executive Committee.”
“It is hereby provided that prior to the removal of any office bearer, he/she shall be granted adequate opportunity to defend himself/herself against any allegations that may have been levelled against him/her.”
ODM Azimio exit casualties
The NEC meeting presided by party leader Oburu Oginga also announced its plan to formally exit Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition.
Daily Nation has established that the formal exit from the coalition that sponsored Mr Odinga in the 2022 presidential race would be followed by a major purge targeting allies of former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Wiper Leader Kalonzo in both the National Assembly and the Senate.
ODM plans to identify itself as a single entity, and consequently exploit being the second largest party in Parliament to grab all slots meant for the Minority side in the two Houses.
Some of the possible immediate casualties of the plan include Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua (Wiper), the Senate Deputy Minority Leader, and Kathiani MP Robert Mbui (Wiper), who serves as Deputy Minority Leader in the National Assembly. Also to be affected is Embakasi East MP Mark Mwenje (Jubilee), who holds Deputy Minority Whip position in the National Assembly.
Jubilee Party leader and retired President Uhuru Kenyatta during a past Jubilee National Delegates Conference.
The planned purge is in response to a meeting chaired by Mr Kenyatta last week on Monday.
During the meeting, Azimio coalition named Mr Musyoka as its new party leader replacing Mr Odinga. Suba South MP Caroli Omondi also replaced National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed as the coalition’s Secretary General.
Dr Oginga rejected the move while calling the coalition as moribund outfit.
“There is nobody who can make a decision in Azimio without the concurrence of ODM. You cannot purport to appoint a new leader of Azimio, excluding ODM. We left it a long time ago, and it is only a formality which we have not performed and which we are going to perform very soon,” he said.
He added, “We were not involved, yet ODM was the dominant party in the coalition and cannot be sidelined in decision-making, and any attempt to appoint a new Azimio leader without the involvement and approval of ODM would be invalid.”
The party is set to ratify its decision to exit from Azimio during its National Delegates Convention (NDC) scheduled for March 26, 2026. The party is said to be planning further changes during the NDC that could see co-deputy party leader Godfrey Osotsi also kicked out from the leadership position.
Mr Osotsi is part of the Sifuna-led faction that has been critical of the planned pre-election coalition between ODM and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) of President William Ruto.
In a press statement read by Ms Omanyo, the top party organ expressed grave concern over the rising levels of indiscipline within the party, particularly by senior party officials.
“Having deliberated on matters relating to the conduct of the Secretary General, Sen. Sifuna, the NEC resolved to remove him from office with immediate effect in accordance with the Party Constitution and applicable laws. Effectively, Ms Omanyo will act in this position until a substantive holder of the position is elected,” read the statement.
Earlier in the day, Dr Oginga warned of rebel leaders and members, saying the party is like a club and members have to abide by the rules.
“This party is like a club, and you must obey the club rules; you cannot be a member if you contradict the decisions of the club. Democracy does not mean chaos; democracy must have some discipline. In a democracy, there is a majority and a minority, and the minority decision is respected, whereas that of the majority is adopted,” said Dr Oginga.
The Sifuna-led team recently launched a grassroots mobilization dubbed “Linda Mwananchi” to counter Dr Oginga’s ‘Linda Ground’, a development that infuriated some of the officials. Mr Osotsi, Siaya governor James Orengo, and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, among others, are part of the parallel camp. This weekend the group will be in Kitengela, Kajiado.
Siaya Governor James Orengo (right) and ODM Edwin Sifuna address residents of Ugunja town during a public rally by Linda Mwananchi faction on February 8, 2026.
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On Friday, Dr Oginga, in a terse statement, hit back at Mr Sifuna for constantly confusing party members on various issues any time he appears in the media for an interview.
“When Sifuna questioned the legality of some national officials on the basis that they were elected by the National Governing Council, he overlooked a fundamental fact: that he himself was elected Secretary General by the same organ in February 2018 and discharged the functions of that office fully and effectively until February 2022, when the National Delegates Convention subsequently endorsed him. One cannot selectively invalidate the very processes that confer legitimacy upon oneself,” Dr Odinga said.
The party leader was responding to remarks made by Sifuna during an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday, where he questioned a number of party decisions, including the legitimacy of the party leader.
In the interview, Mr Sifuna said the installation of Dr Odinga as the party leader was not procedural and was not done according to the provisions of the party constitution.
"The installation of Oburu Odinga as interim party leader was not procedural in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. What I would have advised, had I been in that meeting, is to allow one of the deputies to act, even for one month, and in three months’ time, call for a special National Delegates Conference (NDC) and do it procedurally and properly," Mr Sifuna said.
Mr Sifuna also questioned the source of funds ODM is using to move around under the Linda Ground movement.
“The money you see being spent in ODM rallies is not coming from ODM headquarters; there is parallel funding for activities clothed in ODM colours,” he said, rejecting reports that his party was funding the events.
“Forget what you hear people saying here. Timothy Bosire, the Treasurer, is also a signatory to the bank accounts, and the last money we expended as ODM officially was for the celebrations in Mombasa, and it was a fraction of what we saw there,” he added.
Ms Odinga, who defended Mr Sifuna in his latest scathing attack on the party leadership, said the questions raised by the Nairobi Senator are valid and should be answered by those in leadership.
“If he (Sifuna) questions where all the money for choppers, big tents and ODM-branded T-shirts and caps in the ‘Linda Ground’ conventions is coming from, why should anyone abuse him? He admitted on national TV that the ODM Party has not spent any coin on the campaigns, which run into millions of shillings,” Ms Odinga said.
ODM leader Oburu Oginga (right) and immediate former party Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna.
“In the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the last thing we should do, if we mean well for the party, is to muffle the voices of people like Sifuna. If indeed he is a ‘rebel’, then how many times was Raila Odinga one? Even in the ‘nusu mkate’ government, Raila would still stand his ground,” she added.
The NEC meeting also endorsed the resolutions of the Central Management Committee meeting of January 12 that mandated Dr Oginga to engage President Ruto on coalition talks.
“The NEC received and deliberated upon a progress report on the implementation of the Party's 10-Point Agenda and the work of the Committee tasked with overseeing the implementation of both the 10-Point Agenda and the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO),” read the statement.
On compensation for victims of human rights violations, ODM leadership reiterated its unwavering commitment to justice and accountability and called upon the national government to provide for the allocation of adequate funds in the forthcoming Supplementary Budget to facilitate compensation of victims of human rights violations and derogations.
ODM party resolved that such funds be channeled through the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) to ensure transparency, credibility, and expeditious disbursement to deserving victims.
The party top organs reviewed recent developments within the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition. It noted with concern that certain erstwhile coalition partners have acted in violation of the Deed of Agreement that established the Coalition.
The NEC further called upon all relevant stakeholders and parties to urgently address the impediments that have slowed progress, and to demonstrate goodwill in ensuring the full and faithful implementation of agreed reforms and mandated the Leader of Minority Junet Mohammed to institute mechanisms to ensure the proposed allocation of Sh450 billion to Counties is made mandatory in the supplementary budget.
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Reporting by Moses Nyamori, Anthony Kitimo, And Jurgen Nambeka
