Call a ceasefire, ODM legislators urge Oburu

ODM party leader Oburu Oginga with secretary for political affairs and Kisumu West MP Rosa Buyu congratulates Harrison Kombe after winning the Magarini constituency seat in the recent by elections.[Collins Oduor, Standard] A section of ODM Members of Parliament have called on their party leader, Oburu Odinga, to convene a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to address disputes that are likely to split the opposition party. National Assembly Minority Whip Millie Odhiambo, Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, Nyatike MP Tom Odege, Turkana South MP John Ariko and nominated Senator Catherine Mumma said at a media briefing yesterday that they were concerned by the "self-cannibalisation" that has been exhibited of late in the ODM party. The legislators also asked ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna and National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed to desist from public verbal slurs and return to the table for internal discussions, saying that was the main reason they were requesting Oburu to call for an internal session to avert the ongoing conflict. "The recent happenings in the ODM Party are a testament to how much we miss the wisdom and iconic leadership of our departed leader, Raila Odinga, that divisive rhetoric has taken over our politics without restraint. We call upon the party's elected leadership and the wider membership to uphold the tenets of unity and camaraderie he espoused," said Amollo. Odhiambo said it was time for party legislators to walk back on the rhetoric and come together to build a strong party ahead of next year's elections, noting that even as they appear to be self-cannibalising, they cannot help but curiously observe that small parties are aggressively and strategically moving to occupy spaces previously held by ODM. She said it was for this reason that they were requesting Oburu to move with speed to convene the party's organs and help restore public confidence before they haemorrhage members to insignificant political formations, stating that the current intolerance does not augur well for a revolutionary movement founded on the ideals of democracy, free speech and justice. Speaking separately, National Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Samuel Atandi said those uncomfortable with the broad-based government should leave ODM, alleging that Senator Sifuna is on the payroll of former President Uhuru Kenyatta to wreck the party from within. "There is no way we can have a Secretary-General going to funerals to give his views and purporting them to be the party position, and also using his office to seek handouts from our opponents. That is not acceptable and we are not going to allow it to happen," said Atandi. The Alego Usonga MP said that Oburu, as the ODM Party Leader, has been empowered by the party to negotiate with other parties in order to build coalitions and that, having looked at their members, none can contest for the presidency successfully on their own after the departure of Raila. Atandi said those blaming Junet should say whether he was a messiah expected to deliver electoral victory on his own, noting that most MPs were uncomfortable with Junet being close to Raila, who chose him and, according to their former leader, Junet performed well, enabling his appointment as National Assembly Minority Leader. Political leaders allied to Oburu are said to be pushing to have Sifuna replaced as ODM Secretary-General over what they perceive as his disrespect toward party leadership and for issuing personal opinions as official party positions on various matters. Sifuna said he has been to various parts of the country where Kenyans have resolved that they will not re-elect Ruto in 2027, something that has informed his position and has not gone down well with his colleagues in ODM who are fully behind the President's second-term bid. "I am being fought in the ODM Party because I have said that President William Ruto should only serve for one term. Any dictator can build roads and houses, but it takes a patriot to build a nation. That is why we cannot afford to have Ruto in office for another five years," said Sifuna. The Nairobi Senator made it clear that no leader has the capacity to chase him from ODM over his position, adding that at no point did their former party leader, the late Raila Odinga, tell him that they should support Ruto in 2027, as his colleagues were claiming. Sifuna is on record dismissing party leaders who have accused Uhuru of intending to support the party on condition that it moves out of the broad-based arrangement with President Ruto and joins the united opposition in readiness for the next General Election. Sifuna, who was speaking during the funeral service of former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo in Kakamega last Tuesday, was targeting ODM National Chairperson Gladys Wanga and Junet, who have claimed Uhuru was sponsoring divisions in the largest opposition party. "I would like to apologise to former President Uhuru Kenyatta on behalf of the ODM Party over insults hurled at him by our members who seem not to appreciate the role he played in trying to secure a win for our party leader, Raila Odinga, in the 2022 presidential election," said Sifuna. The ODM Secretary-General would later allege during the funeral service of the mother of Embakasi North MP James Gakuya in Murang'a on Saturday that Junet contributed to Raila not winning the last presidential election by embezzling funds meant for party agents. Junet has denied Sifuna's claims that he was handling ODM agents' money, saying the funds were released by Uhuru but were being handled by his brother Muhoho Kenyatta, who in turn appointed an aide to the former President, Patrick Mburu, to be in charge of making payments. The Suna East MP said it was worth noting that despite Mburu not having paid ODM agents anywhere in the country, the former President has retained him as his aide and even travelled with him to Nigeria recently, which raises questions about what really happened. "Let me put the record straight: the late Raila Odinga would have had no reason to appoint me as the National Assembly Minority Leader if he did not trust me or believed I had betrayed him. Over the years, I have handled very delicate assignments on his behalf with utmost fidelity and due diligence," said Junet. Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina-who is tipped to replace Sifuna as ODM Secretary-General-has come to the defence of Junet, saying he did not misappropriate any campaign funds and that Uhuru kept the Sh500 million meant for the purpose, stating that the Nairobi Senator was lying. Ledama, who was a harsh critic of Ruto and was even injured while trying to defend what he termed Raila's victory at Bomas of Kenya in August 2022, has now turned out to be a staunch supporter of Ruto's re-election bid in 2027, something that has put him on a collision course with the likes of Sifuna, whom he has asked to leave ODM. "If you want to leave ODM, you should go ahead and do so since nobody is stopping you. You should not wait to be kicked out because that is what is going to happen soon-enough with empty threats. This noise is getting out of hand," said Ledama. ODM Deputy Party Leader Godfrey Osotsi is the other leader in the top ODM hierarchy, besides Sifuna, who has not been amused by the two-term agenda being supported by his party leader and fellow deputy leaders Simba Arati and Abdulswamad Nassir, among others. Osotsi said the focus should be on the ten-point agenda jointly signed between ODM and UDA, which must be respected and implemented in both letter and spirit, as it provides a clear bipartisan roadmap for political stability, institutional strengthening and people-centred governance without reopening the Constitution. "The ODM Party reaffirms its unwavering commitment to constitutionalism, term limits and peaceful democratic transitions, and calls on our partners in government to abandon hidden agendas and instead focus on implementing agreed reforms that restore hope, accountability and dignity to the lives of Kenyans," said Osotsi. Wanga, on her part, said it was their collective responsibility to rally behind the party and make 2026 a year of consolidation and organisation, stating that unity is not uniformity and that in recent days they have witnessed robust debate and differences of opinion about the direction of the party in the post-Raila era. She said that the ODM Party's resilient and tested institutions give it the capacity to harmonise differing views and turn them into strengths by recognising that progress is only possible by committing to leave no one behind while consolidating the vision Raila held for the country. "Raila could not have left instructions for every challenge we would face after his exit. What he left us with was more enduring-his vision, his values and his method of struggle. He taught us when to fight and when to retreat without losing sight of what truly matters. He taught us never to fear new horizons or difficult decisions," said Wanga. Political analyst David Kiprono said that ODM has always outlived its rebels, giving the example of former Secretary-General Ababu Namwamba, who is remembered for even failing to acknowledge former President Mwai Kibaki during the State opening of Parliament in 2007. Kiprono noted that had President Ruto not deliberately crafted his own independent power base and offered Namwamba-the greatest Secretary-General ODM has ever had-political refuge, he would likely have faded into irrelevance, stating that political survival in Kenya is not accidental but engineered. The analyst said Senator Sifuna is young and energetic and that the same energy, if misdirected, can torpedo a political career into oblivion, noting that politics rewards patience as much as brilliance. He added that, like any other politician, Sifuna has a right of choice and association but should play his cards well. "Today, the reality is simple: it is either UDA or ODM. Every other formation is a regional dwarf-loud within its backyard but invisible nationally. The moment Ruto was ejected from Jubilee, he drowned it without sentiment, turning a once-ruling machine into a political garage for sale," said Kiprono.

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