The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Nairobi branch chairperson George Aladwa has accused the party Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna of rocking the opposition leader Raila Odinga -led outfit from within, warning that he risks being kicked out.
Mr Aladwa’s warning on Sunday is an escalation of infighting within ODM over its political arrangement with President William Ruto .
Dr Ruto appointed some of Mr Odinga’s allies to his Cabinet, but some of the former Prime Minister's close allies, including Mr Sifuna, who is the official spokesperson of the party, have remained fierce critics of the Kenya Kwanza administration.
Addressing the press in Nairobi on Sunday, Mr Aladwa who is the Makadara MP, claimed that Mr Sifuna’s criticism of the broad-based government is akin to challenging Mr Odinga's authority.
He warned that should the secretary-general continue fighting the political truce, the party members would have no option but to kick him out of the leadership position.
He said Mr Sifuna would not be the first ODM secretary-general to be kicked out for not toeing the party line, giving the example of Mr Ababu Namwamba, who was removed from office in July 2016.
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“I want Senator Sifuna to know that pride comes before a fall and that to be popular, you don’t have to shout at the rooftop calling people names and being disrespectful to other leaders. You have to learn, listen and also be ready to be corrected,” Mr Aladwa said.
He claimed that Mr Sifuna had become disrespectful to other party officials by calling them names. He said some of them have remained at the forefront, fighting for the country and the party longer than Mr Sifuna.
“I want to remind Sifuna that I have been part and parcel of ODM since its inception in 2005. I have seen leaders who vehemently spoke and stood for the ideals and ideology of the party without chest thumping and wanting to step on other people’s shoes,” the MP said.
The MP also dismissed the senator’s remarks that he is the only person who can speak about the position of the party, telling him that he is a ‘nobody in the party without the blessings of Mr Odinga.’
“Senator Sifuna will be a nobody in Nairobi just as he is a nobody in Bungoma County…we shall speak because that is what we love doing. Inciting other chairmen of counties and branches against leaders who are not thinking your way will not work. We shall not be gagged by people whose intention is to make ODM their cup of tea,” Mr Aladwa said.
Senator Sifuna is on record repeatedly saying that the ODM is still an opposition party despite the deal between the President and Mr Odinga.
The senator also recently said that President Ruto will be a one-term president because the government had failed to work for the people.
"Even if ODM supports Ruto, he will still lose. As a party, we do not support either the internal affairs or the external affairs of the way this country is being run. William Ruto will lose that election with Raila's support," Mr Sifuna said on Thursday on Citizen TV.
"ODM will only enter into alliances with political parties that are like-minded, that are pro-people, that can manage the country. You are not going to force us into an alliance with incompetent people and it has been demonstrated that the Kenya Kwanza government is the most incompetent so far from independence," he said.
But Mr Aladwa now claims that Mr Sifuna is being used by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to criticise the broad-based government and the truce between Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga.
“Sifuna is at liberty to exit ODM and join the side of Mr Gachagua and let’s meet in 2027 for a battle. We saw him attending the church with Gachagua and Kalonzo Musyoka without even inviting the area MP Beatrice Elachi,” Mr Aladwa said.
“We are very loyal to our party leader Mr Odinga and we know that Sifuna is the candidate for Gachagua in the Nairobi governor seat. Let him leave us now in peace and we will fight for the party and the broad-based government and we are warning the community that celebrated Mr Odinga’s loss at the AUC. Our time to celebrate will come in 2027.”
