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Mama Ida Odinga, the widow of the late ODM leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, has cautioned the party stalwarts against kicking out Secretary General Edwin Sifuna.
Mama Ida, in a social media forum interview, wondered why Sifuna should be chased away from the party, yet Raila himself did not do so.
She said it was not reasonable to remove Raila's child from his father’s house after his death. She insisted that Sifuna was Raila’s son in ODM, and he cannot be chased away.
She advised ODM leaders to resolve any dispute through dialogue within the party and desist from chasing away party members.
“Edwin Sifuna is the SG of the party. He is the son of Raila. He is not going anywhere. If your father has died, should the children be chased away from the house? If you disagree in the house, people should sit down and resolve it. He is not going anywhere,” said Ida.
Ida was reacting to the recent decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Mombasa to remove Sifuna as ODM Secretary General and replace him with his deputy and Busia woman representative, Ms Catherine Omanyo.
Sifuna has since been reinstated as SG by the Political Parties Tribunal until both parties are heard and the matter is determined.
Sifuna, who doubles up as the Senator for Nairobi County, has been opposing the push to negotiate a pre-election coalition with President Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
The Oburu faction kicked out Sifuna last Wednesday the day-long NEC meeting, which was characterised by disagreements from those opposing and supporting the decision.
During the meeting, sources confided to The Standard on Saturday that Oburu's sister and Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga stood her ground in defence of Sifuna.
But Oburu and Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir had their way after they lobbied for the removal of the senator.
Sifuna has vowed to continue being truthful about what Raila stood for before his death four months ago and defend the party from allegedly being controlled by President Ruto.
