NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 12 \u2013 A fresh power struggle has erupted within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) after Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna rejected his removal from office and immediately launched what appears to be a political counter-offensive.<\/p>\n
Just hours after the party\u2019s National Executive Committee (NEC) announced his ouster in Mombasa, Sifuna addressed supporters in Nairobi, dismissing the decision as \u201cillegal and unprocedural\u201d and vowing to challenge it in court.<\/p>\n
Flanked by Winnie Odinga, Siaya Governor James Orengo and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, the Nairobi Senator accused a faction within the party of attempting to silence dissent.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt no time have I been informed of any allegations against me\u2026 Neither have I been invited to respond to any complaints,\u201d Sifuna said, arguing that no lawful party organ had subjected him to a hearing.<\/p>\n
Sifuna linked the move to his outspoken opposition to any plan to support President William Ruto\u2019s re-election, describing that position as his only \u201ccrime.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy only crime is that I oppose any plans and schemes within the party to support President William Ruto\u2019s re-election,\u201d he said, sharply criticising the current administration.<\/p>\n
The show of solidarity around him underscored widening fault lines within ODM. Deputy Party Leader Godfrey Osotsi vowed to defend what he termed Raila Odinga\u2019s legacy, accusing an Oburu-led faction of being influenced to \u201ckill\u201d the party from within.<\/p>\n
Babu Owino described Sifuna as a victim of internal victimisation for defending the downtrodden, claiming that the rival camp had effectively \u201cdeclared war\u201d within ODM.<\/p>\n
In a further escalation, Sifuna announced plans for a major political rally in Kitengela, Kajiado County, signalling that the battle will not be confined to courtrooms but will also play out in the public arena.<\/p>\n
The NEC, in its earlier resolution, had cited concerns over discipline and leadership conduct in removing Sifuna and appointed Deputy Secretary-General Catherine Omanyo to serve in an acting capacity.<\/p>\n
But with both sides digging in, ODM now faces a deepening internal crisis that could reshape its leadership structure and political direction in the months ahead.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Feb 12 \u2013 A fresh power struggle has erupted within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) after Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna rejected his removal from office and immediately launched what appears to be a political counter-offensive. Just hours after the party\u2019s National Executive Committee (NEC) announced his ouster in Mombasa, Sifuna addressed supporters in Nairobi, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130796\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}