Africa-Press – Kenya. A section of ODM leaders has mounted calls for the party to convene a National Delegates Congress (NDC), warning against any attempt to remove Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as Secretary General.
The leaders emphasised that the NDC would determine the party’s way forward, including its stance on an alliance with President William Ruto’s UDA.
Speaking at a church service at PAG Kawangware, Nairobi, the leaders decried external interference, saying there were concerted efforts to destabilize ODM.
Among those present were Sifuna, ODM Deputy Party Leader Godfrey Osotsi, Siaya Governor James Orengo, Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, and Saboti MP Caleb Amisi.
Orengo insisted that ODM should field a presidential candidate in 2027 and cautioned against entering any coalition talks with UDA before the implementation of a prior 10-point agreement.
“We cannot go into any agreement before the conditions are met,” he said.
Orengo also warned, “I want to state that if anyone tries to remove Sifuna from ODM, that will be the end of the party.”
Defending Sifuna, Osotsi said the Nairobi Senator’s statements are not defiance but instructions he received from the late Raila Odinga.
“We lost our party leader Raila Odinga, and we are still crying. We have people who now want to destabilize ODM, we have come out and said we will not allow it,” Osotsi said. He added, “As Deputy Party Leader, Sifuna has not wronged anyone and I will stand with him.”
He further stressed that ODM should consider fielding a presidential candidate.
“Who said we cannot produce a president?” Osotsi asked.
Amisi weighed in with criticism of ODM party leader Oburu Odinga, describing him as “steering the bus but cannot drive, he does not know where the brakes are and he does not know where Baba was headed.”
Amisi likened some party leaders to passengers plotting to switch vehicles without direction, highlighting internal tensions with leaders like Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, and governors Gladys Wanga and Simba Arati.
He added, “We have said if Babu disembarks, people will go out with him. If Sifuna alights, they alight. James Orengo too. That is why we are asking for the National Delegates Congress; we want to know who is the right driver.”
Sifuna also took issue with those issuing threats, saying, “You cannot threaten your fellow leaders. They have never come to us to tell us we have taken the wrong path and showed us the way. Baba told us our party stands by the ODM principles. Our party respects democracy and the government we form should respect human rights. Fundamental freedoms must also be respected.”
He further reiterated the party’s position on political alliances, saying, “Baba told us we work with like-minded political parties. You must persuade me if our principles are the same as those of UDA.”
Babu added, “We are saying Raila never left ODM to go look for other parties. Those parties came to look for Raila. And that is how it will remain.”
He confirmed that if the NDC cannot be called, they will mobilize 1,000 signatures and give them to the Secretary General, who will convene the delegates congress.
