‘Broad-based’ troops now plot Sifuna Senate leadership ouster

Fresh details have emerged of powerful forces within and outside ODM pushing for the removal of embattled party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna from the Senate leadership.

The Star has established that plans are at an advanced stage to eject Sifuna from the influential position of Deputy Minority Whip in the Senate.

This comes just days after he was quietly dropped from the powerful Energy Committee, chaired by Siaya Senator and ODM leader Oburu Oginga, his nemesis in the party.

Multiple parliamentary sources familiar with the discussions said the changes are intended to align the opposition leadership with ODM's new political direction following its cooperation agreement with President Ruto.

"Yes, he is leaving. That I can assure you. The pressure is too much on us," a senior opposition leader in Parliament told the Star.

According to the source, Sifuna is facing pressure from two fronts.

"UDA wants him to go because he is not serving the interests of the broad-based government. But we in ODM also feel we have given him enough time to make up his mind. He has stagnated us. We now need to move with or without him," the source said.

The latest developments come barely hours after Sifuna secured a reprieve from the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT), which nullified ODM's decision to remove him as secretary general.

In a judgment delivered by Tribunal chair Gad Gathu, the PPDT found that the party violated the rules of natural justice by failing to accord Sifuna a fair hearing before resolving to remove him from office.

"The complainant was not accorded a fair hearing before the resolution to remove him from office," the tribunal ruled.

The judges further found there was no evidence that Sifuna had been notified that his conduct would be discussed during the National Executive Committee meeting.

However, the ruling stopped short of completely vindicating the senator.

The tribunal dismissed all his other prayers, effectively allowing ODM to restart disciplinary proceedings, provided it strictly follows due process.

ODM executive director Oduor Ong'wen interpreted the judgment as a green light for the party to continue pursuing disciplinary action.

"The tribunal directed the party to proceed with and conclude any disciplinary proceedings lawfully initiated against the senator," Ong'wen said.

Even before the tribunal ruling, Sifuna had suffered another major political setback.

On Wednesday, he was removed from the Senate Energy Committee, one of the House's most influential oversight committees and replaced by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang'.

Unlike other senators affected by the reshuffle, Sifuna was not assigned to another committee, reducing his committee membership to only the County Public Accounts Committee and the National Security, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee.

The reshuffle, announced by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, was based on recommendations by the Senate Business Committee and the Minority leadership.

Officially, the changes were described as routine. Politically, however, they have been interpreted as part of a wider effort to isolate the Nairobi senator from key parliamentary positions.

The removal is particularly symbolic because the committee is chaired by Oburu, with whom Sifuna has publicly clashed over the future direction of ODM.

The two leaders represent opposing ideological camps within the Orange party.

While Oburu has emerged as one of the strongest defenders of ODM's cooperation with President William Ruto's administration, Sifuna has remained one of its fiercest critics, insisting the party should remain firmly in opposition.

"More changes are coming," Cheruiyot said.

Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo did little to dismiss speculation that more changes are on the way.

"Making changes to leadership or committees of Parliament is a normal process. We have made the changes and more will come on a need basis," he said.

Without mentioning names, Madzayo criticised leaders who profess loyalty to the late ODM leader Raila Odinga while openly challenging decisions made by the party.

"If you truly believed in Raila, why leave his party or divide it? You don't need to leave. If you don't like Ruto, make it clear but remain in the party," he said.

He argued that prolonged internal wrangles have slowed ODM's progress and urged members to negotiate with UDA from a united position.

Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo confirmed that discussions about removing Sifuna from the Deputy Minority Whip position are ongoing.

"Yes, I have heard about it. He is on his way out. But Sifuna is now bigger than the Deputy Minority Whip. He has swept the entire ODM," Maanzo said.

Sifuna has become the most recognisable face of resistance against ODM's broad-based arrangement with Kenya Kwanza.

He has repeatedly rejected the party's cooperation agreement with President Ruto, arguing that it betrays ODM's role as the country's principal opposition movement.

He has also refused to recognise Oburu's leadership of the party following Raila Odinga's transition from active party management.

Instead, Sifuna has increasingly aligned himself with the emerging Linda Mwananchi faction, which insists ODM should maintain an independent opposition identity or partner with other opposition parties ahead of the 2027 General Election.

His allies accuse sections of the party leadership of abandoning ODM's traditional support base by embracing the Kenya Kwanza administration.

Beyond internal party politics, Sifuna has built a reputation as one of the Senate's most outspoken oversight voices.

As a member of the Energy Committee, he played a prominent role in questioning the controversial Adani Group proposal involving the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

He repeatedly criticised government officials for withholding documents related to the proposed public-private partnership and accused the Executive of frustrating parliamentary oversight.

"I know nothing about the Adani deal despite being the Senator for Nairobi," he said during one committee session while demanding full disclosure from the Transport ministry.

His removal from the committee, therefore, carries both political and oversight implications, stripping him of a platform from which he frequently challenged major government projects.

The growing campaign against Sifuna illustrates the widening ideological divide within ODM as the party repositions itself ahead of the 2027 elections.

Political observers say Sifuna's fate could become a defining test of whether dissenting voices can survive within ODM as the party embraces its new political strategy.