Nairobi ODM branch chairman and Makadara MP George Aladwa (centre) flanked by his supporters during a press briefing at the Boulevard Hotel in Nairobi on February 23, 2025, where he warned critics of President Ruto's broad-based government.
Political infighting has escalated in opposition leader Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) as top leaders tear at each other over the working arrangement with President William Ruto.
Some of the top party officials have remained fierce critics of the Kenya Kwanza administration, setting them on a warpath with some of their colleagues, who have declared support for President Ruto.
Nairobi County Senator Edwin Sifuna during an interview in his office.
ODM Nairobi branch chairperson George Aladwa on Sunday threatened to push for the ouster of Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna for opposing suggestions to have ODM back President Ruto’s 2027 re-election.
Mr Aladwa sensationally claimed that Mr Sifuna was being used by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to frustrate any political deal between Dr Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and ODM ahead of the next presidential race.
The renewed infighting appears to have been fuelled after Mr Odinga lost his bid for African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship, with some of his party officials pulling him to back Dr Ruto’s 2027 re-election bid while others want ODM to field a presidential candidate.
The ideological differences played out on Saturday in Siaya and Mombasa, where top ODM politicians clashed openly in what now threatens to expose the outfit for a possible disintegration.
In Siaya, Interim Party leader and Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o and his Siaya counterpart James Orengo said ODM will not be involved in helping Dr Ruto’s government fight its wars while Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi, an ODM member incorporated into the broad-based government, said the Head of State’s efforts towards Mr Odinga’s campaign for the AUC chairmanship showed he was a “true friend”.
Support Ruto
In Mombasa, national chairperson and Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, her host Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir, and Likoni MP Mishi Mboko reiterated the message of Dr Ruto being a friend, pledging to support his government.
Mr Sifuna had on Thursday said that Dr Ruto would still lose even if Mr Odinga opted to back his second term in office.
"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 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 addressing the press in Nairobi on Sunday, Mr Aladwa claimed that Mr Sifuna’s criticism of the broad-based government is akin to challenging the authority of Mr Odinga.
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 the office in July 2016.
“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.”
But Mr Sifuna on Sunday described himself as the most loyal party official, who speaks the mind of its members.
“It is very easy to be secretary-general of ODM. You just need to follow the blueprint left by Gerald Otieno Kajwang’. Loyalty, fidelity and faithfulness,” he said in a Facebook post to mark seven years as ODM Secretary General.
Governor Nassir – who is among top party leaders praising Dr Ruto for doing everything in Mr Odinga’s AUC bid – told Nation that there are no plans to kick out Mr Sifuna.
He described Mr Aladwa’s assertions as personal opinion, maintaining that Mr Sifuna remains the official spokesperson. He, however, said that some of them are supporting Dr Ruto’s administration for the realization of a better country. He also noted that there was no decision yet on whether to back Dr Ruto or not in the next polls, saying that ODM’s desire to clinch power remains.
“The position of the party is that we have given this government some of our experts to help stabilise the country, but we are not in UDA,” Mr Nassir told Nation.
“As ODM, we are going to help where required, but come 2027, we will be seeking power. Getting power remains the vision of every serious political party,” said the governor.
Energy Cabinet Secretary Opiyo Wandayi among other leaders at at the send-off service for Prof. Bethwel Allan Ogot in Yala, Siaya County.
While speaking during the burial of historian Prof Bethwell Ogot, Prof Nyong’o warned of a possible revolt by the people again as it happened in 2024 during the youth-led protests if the government continues to ignore the concerns being raised by the members of the public.
“What is happening in Kenya today is that people want to develop the country but are not listening to the people at the grassroots level. Recently here, the country was about to collapse during the Gen Z protests because the government was doing something against the will of the people,” said Governor Nyong’o.
“We will, however, not put out fires for the government every other time. We want the government to know that there will be fire if the country is not run in the right manner. We are not here to extinguish fires; we will only do so when we are sure that these people we are talking with do the right thing, or else another fire is coming,” he added.
Governor Orengo insisted that ODM must remain steadfast and strengthen the party to get power one day.
“We are still looking for a day when a Luo will be president of the Republic of Kenya. But we can only achieve this when our house ODM remains stronger,” said Mr Orengo.
But Mr Wandayi said the AUC election process had shown the Luo community its true allies.
“The elections taught us who our genuine friends are as a people. After the outcome of the elections at Addis Ababa, we saw those who celebrated our loss the most and laughed at us. We will not forget about this. We have known those who mean well for us. We saw President Ruto walk with Mr Odinga, looking for support from different heads of state. It showed us our true friends,” said Mr Wandayi.
Broad-based government
In Mombasa, Ms Wanga repeated the friend-versus-foe observations.
“We now know who our true friends are. But one day we will tell the world the truth about what transpired,” said Ms Wanga, who also declared that ODM will remain in the broad-based government.
President William Ruto (left) and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga at State House, Nairobi, on August 27, 2024.
Governor Nassir said the President did everything within his power to support their party leader.
“While we may not have clinched the seat, Kenya’s prominence on the continental stage has grown immensely. The President never betrayed Mr Odinga. Woe unto those who expected us to come back and burn the country after the AUC loss. ODM has principles,” said Governor Nassir.
US-based University Lecturer and political analyst, Prof David Monda, notes that the power struggle in ODM is between idealists and pragmatists.
He says that individuals like Sifuna are idealists, who are uncomfortable with the excesses of the Kenya Kwanza administration and ODM abandoning its role as loyal opposition in checking the government.
On the other hand, he describes the likes of Junet as pragmatists who are ready to work with ‘the brutal Kenya Kwanza political regime’.
“I think this tension will split the party in the run-up to the 2027 elections. There are numerous idealistic voices in ODM very unhappy with the abuse of power by Kenya Kwanza and the amorphous role of ODM in the administration. More in line with the public mood,” said Prof Monda.
He adds, “On the other hand, there are pragmatists that want to use the Raila/Ruto bromance as a means to improve their political stakes in the ruthless power politics that is contemporary Kenya.”
