Sifuna: ODM-Ruto pact will send party 'straight to the opposition'

Embattled ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna and MP Babu Owino during Linda Mwananchi rally in Kakamega. [File, Standard]

Embattled ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has warned that any coalition between the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and President William Ruto will send the party back to opposition and not to power.

The warning, delivered during a television interview yesterday, came barely 24 hours after ODM party leader Oburu Odinga stood before supporters at Posta Grounds in Migori on Sunday and declared that the party had authorized him to open formal coalition talks with Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ahead of the 2027 general election.

“The surest path for ODM to find itself back in opposition is to join William Ruto. I believe he is going home,” noted Sifuna.

Dr Oburu declared at the rally that ODM was ready to negotiate with like-minded formations, specifically naming UDA and saying the party had given him authority to start negotiations.

ODM chairperson and Homa Bay governor Gladys Wanga, also present at the rally, said the party had made a deliberate decision to form the next government with Ruto and would push for a 50-50 power sharing arrangement.

The open contradiction between the party secretary general and its leadership on the same topic in consecutive days lays bare a fault line that the March 27 National Delegates Convention (NDC) in Nairobi must now resolve.

Sifuna challenged the idea driving Oburu’s push that ODM must align with the ruling party to remain relevant.

“I do not understand where this idea that opposition is something bad came from. In a democracy, a contest of ideas, it is possible to be in opposition today and tomorrow be selling your policies with Kenyans backing you into government,” noted Sifuna.

He also dismissed arguments that the party’s presence in Ruto’s broad-based government has translated into tangible influence.

“Influence does not mean you have any real position. We want conversations that are principled,” said Sifuna.

The internal war within ODM is not new but it has sharpened since the death of former Prime Minister and ODM founder Raila Odinga.

A surprise political agreement between Raila and Ruto in the wake of the Generation Z protests in 2024 saw five ODM members appointed to Cabinet, sparking speculation that ODM would endorse Ruto’s re-election bid.

Raila’s death ended his personal authority over that arrangement and the two camps held in check by his presence have since collided openly.

Sifuna’s Linda Mwananchi tour has become the most visible expression of that opposition, drawing both massive crowds and the full force of the State security apparatus in equal measure.

On February 15, police fired teargas and live ammunition into a Linda Mwananchi rally in Kitengela, Kajiado County. A 28-year-old man, Vincent Ayomo, was shot through the eye and killed.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) launched a high-priority investigation into the death, deploying a rapid response team to Kajiado County.

Six days later, tear gas was lobbed at a Linda Mwananchi rally at Amalemba Grounds in Kakamega, causing panic.

Despite the disruption, the rally continued.

At least one person was killed amid clashes between rival groups, with several youths injured in nearby Mbale town.