Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has announced he will head back to court to challenge his second removal as Orange Democratic Movement Secretary General, dismissing the decision by the party’s National Executive Committee as unprocedural, unconstitutional, and a repeat of an earlier failed attempt to push him out of office.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, June 23, Sifuna’s Linda Mwananchi faction said the NEC’s latest action bore all the hallmarks of the February ouster that had been overturned after a successful court challenge, and expressed confidence that history would repeat itself.
“Late last evening, we were made aware of the decision by the ODM Party NEC purporting, for the second time, to remove the SG Edwin Sifuna from office. On the face of it, the decision bears similarities with the first one in February; unprocedural, unfair and contrary to the Party’s Constitution,” the faction stated.
The group confirmed that legal preparations were already underway. “After consultation with our legal teams earlier this morning, it has been decided to once again test the propriety of the purported ouster in the courts because we are convinced it should suffer the same fate as the first one in February,” the statement added.
At a Tuesday morning press briefing in Nairobi, a statement on behalf of the faction was read by Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, who accused the ODM leadership of reproducing the same procedural flaws that previously led the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal to intervene.
The removal was announced on Monday, June 22, following a NEC meeting at Chungwa House chaired by ODM National Chairperson Gladys Wanga. Acting Secretary General Catherine Omanyo said the NEC had unanimously adopted the recommendations of the party’s Internal Dispute Resolution Committee, which had investigated complaints against Sifuna.
“After going through the report and findings of the IDRM under Article 74(2) of the Party constitution, the NEC unanimously resolved to adopt the Committee’s recommendations and endorsed the removal from office of Senator Edwin Watenya Sifuna,” Omanyo said. “Effectively, Sifuna ceases to be the SG of the ODM party.”
ODM said Sifuna had declined to appear before the committee after his lawyer, Senior Counsel Isaac Okero, raised concerns over alleged bias. The party maintained the process was constitutionally sound, noting that earlier PPDT orders halting the ouster had since been lifted.
The standoff has laid bare the widening fractures within ODM, where Sifuna has positioned himself as one of the most outspoken critics of the party’s cooperation agreement with President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.
Separately, the Linda Mwananchi faction announced the postponement of its planned rallies in Kisii and Keroka from Friday, June 26, to Friday, July 3, saying the rescheduling would allow its members to join the nationwide commemorations marking the first anniversary of the 2024 Gen Z protests.
The faction warned of potential state-sponsored violence against participants in the June 25 memorial events and called on security agencies to guarantee the safety of all citizens taking part in peaceful demonstrations. It also criticised the government’s approach to compensating victims of last year’s protests, saying monetary assistance without accountability and transparency was an inadequate response to the pain suffered by affected families.
