Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has issued a strong warning to his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, vowing to resign as Secretary General if it formally backs President William Ruto’s reelection bid in 2027.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Sifuna declared that he would not stand by and watch the party he has served abandon its ideological foundations. “I have not yet resigned from the party as the SG because I still believe there is some glimmer of hope,” he said. “But if the party decides to go ahead with the merger in 2027, then I will have no option but to resign.”
His remarks come amid mounting speculation over a possible working relationship or even a political merger between ODM and the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA). Sifuna criticized the Kenya Kwanza administration for what he called a “failure to fulfil its promises” and “a breach of the 10-point agenda” signed in the working relationship between UDA and ODM.
He further took issue with ODM members now entertaining constitutional amendments, particularly to Article 37, which guarantees the right to protest and picket. “It is not fair that now they are in government, and finally they think the brutality meted out to them [in past protests] was not bad,” he said.
Sifuna insisted that ODM’s street protests, including those as recent as 2023, were justified in holding the government accountable, and expressed disappointment in leaders now attempting to suppress such rights.
He also distanced the party from recent appointments of ODM members to government roles, claiming these individuals acted independently without party endorsement. “They were each called by the President and the appointments were not sanctioned by the party organs,” he said.
Sifuna urged those members to revisit ODM’s principles and serve the people as the party originally intended. His comments highlight growing tension within the opposition party as it grapples with internal rifts and shifting political allegiances ahead of the 2027 general election.
