{"id":146997,"date":"2026-07-16T12:02:50","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/intrigues-surround-sifuna-ouster-bid-as-deputy-minority-whip-as-azimio-coalition-pushes-back\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T12:02:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:02:50","slug":"intrigues-surround-sifuna-ouster-bid-as-deputy-minority-whip-as-azimio-coalition-pushes-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/intrigues-surround-sifuna-ouster-bid-as-deputy-minority-whip-as-azimio-coalition-pushes-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Intrigues Surround Sifuna Ouster Bid as Deputy Minority Whip As Azimio Coalition Pushes Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI,Kenya July 16 \u2013 The Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition has moved to block attempts to remove Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as Deputy Minority Whip, escalating a bitter leadership dispute that has exposed fresh divisions within the opposition.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a letter dated July 16 to Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, the coalition asked the Speaker not to act on any resolution arising from a contentious Parliamentary Group (PG) meeting held on Wednesday evening, arguing that the process violated both the coalition agreement and Senate procedures.<\/p>\n

Signed by Azimio Coalition Council Chairperson Philip Kisia, the letter says the coalition has formally received complaints from member parties and senators over what it describes as attempts to interfere with its Senate leadership.<\/p>\n

The coalition claims Minority Whip Ledama Ole Kina convened the meeting on short notice, informing senators at about 5.45 p.m. that a Parliamentary Group meeting would take place at 7.30 p.m. in his office without disclosing its agenda.<\/p>\n

According to the letter, senators only learnt upon arrival that the meeting had been called to consider changes in the coalition\u2019s Senate leadership, specifically the removal of Sifuna from his position as Deputy Minority Whip.<\/p>\n

Azimio says the meeting ended in confusion after what it termed a \u201cpurported vote\u201d supported by 11 senators, insisting the Senate Standing Orders require such a decision to be backed by a majority of all coalition members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coalition agreement at Article 5D(3) provides that the leadership of the coalition parliamentary group shall be determined by the Coalition Council,\u201d Kisia wrote.<\/p>\n

The coalition further argued that ODM, whose senators reportedly formed the majority of those pushing for the changes, had earlier resolved to terminate its membership in the Azimio coalition, making the attempted leadership changes even more contentious.<\/p>\n

Citing an ongoing dispute under Article 16 of the coalition agreement, Azimio urged Speaker Kingi to refrain from implementing any leadership changes until the coalition\u2019s dispute resolution panel determines the matter.<\/p>\n

Disrupted Meeting <\/h2>\n

The leadership wrangles unfolded amid reports of a physical confrontation between senators during Wednesday\u2019s meeting inside Parliament.<\/p>\n

Sources familiar with the meeting said tensions flared after senators clashed over the procedure for removing Sifuna, with the disagreement eventually degenerating into pushing and shoving.<\/p>\n

It is alleged that Ole Kina injured his hand after attempting to punch Sifuna but Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi intervened during the altercation, although the circumstances surrounding the incident could not be independently verified.<\/p>\n

The meeting reportedly brought together 21 of Azimio\u2019s 31 senators and came only hours after a section of ODM lawmakers held talks with President William Ruto at State House under the leadership of Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga.<\/p>\n

According to sources, the State House meeting preceded the Parliamentary Group session, with claims that senators were subsequently mobilised for a vote on Sifuna\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

Those reported to have attended the State House meeting include Oburu Oginga, Tom Ojienda, Eddy Oketch, Hamida Kibwana, Betty Montet, Johnes Mwaruma, Mohamed Faki, Stewart Madzayo, Issa Juma Boy and Moses Kajwang.<\/p>\n

Sources at the meeting said senators aligned to the Linda Mwananchi faction, led by Kitui Senator Enock Wambua and attended by Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, questioned the legality of the meeting, citing inadequate notice and the failure to circulate an agenda beforehand.<\/p>\n

The senators nevertheless proceeded with the meeting after Ole Kina ruled that quorum had been achieved.<\/p>\n

Accounts from senators present indicate that a vote was eventually taken, with a majority reportedly backing Sifuna\u2019s retention while a smaller group supported his removal.<\/p>\n

However, disagreements emerged after Ole Kina allegedly declined to declare the outcome, maintaining that senators who had not attended would be allowed to cast their votes later, triggering protests from members demanding that the results be announced immediately.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI,Kenya July 16 \u2013 The Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya Coalition has moved to block attempts to remove Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as Deputy Minority Whip, escalating a bitter leadership dispute that has exposed fresh divisions within the opposition. In a letter dated July 16 to Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, the coalition asked the Speaker not […]<\/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-146997","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\/146997","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=146997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146997\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}