NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 13 – Acting ODM Secretary General Catherine Omanyo has defended her leadership credentials telling supporters that she will not be intimidated despite recent public attacks from her predecessor Edwin Sifuna.
Speaking in Kilifi during the party’s linda ground tour on Friday, Omanyo accused Sifuna of undermining her and spreading claims that she is “uneducated”, remarks she dismissed as disrespectful, misleading, and aimed at confusing party members.
Omanyo said she rose from a difficult childhood, losing her father at 14, yet worked her way through school until she made it to university.
“I struggled to educate myself. It was not easy,” she said, questioning why Sifuna would send people to insult her academic credentials.
She urged women and voters to reflect on the unfairness of judging leaders by academic titles alone.
“Do you only vote for professors? Is it fair to insult me because of education?” she posed.
Omanyo also accused Sifuna of using his allies to paint her as a “chokora”, telling the crowd that she would not be shaken by such remarks.
“Even if I was a chokora, I have a home and that home is ODM. And I will not sell this party,” she declared to loud cheers.
Omanyo further criticised Sifuna for what she called double-speak and confusion, claiming he administered an oath recognizing Oburu Oginga as party leader only to later appear on TV distancing himself from the same move.
“You cannot swear someone in with a Bible then go back and say you do not recognize them,” she said, accusing Sifuna of causing internal disarray and contradicting ODM’s official position.
She also referenced a reported meeting between Sifuna, Raila Odinga, and President William Ruto at State House regarding the broad-based talks, saying Sifuna later denied involvement another sign, she argued, of inconsistency.
Omanyo maintained that her job is to represent ODM’s clear stand, not engage in insults.
“He is my brother, and I respect him. But if he does not respect me, someone else will also fail to respect him,” she warned.