The public feud between Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Oburu Oginga and party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has deepened, with Oginga explicitly rejecting any future collaboration with the Nairobi Senator. Oginga argues that Sifuna’s persistent lack of discipline and blatant disrespect toward party leadership have crippled his ability to function as the party’s spokesman.
Oginga points to recent disparaging comments from Sifuna as the primary catalyst for the fallout. He contends that Sifuna’s public declaration that he refuses to work under “mediocrity” was a direct insult aimed at him.
“This is a disciplinary issue. We can’t have young people who are not disciplined. He called me some name, saying that he can’t be in ‘mediocrity’, yet he wants to be my secretary general. How do I work with him when he doesn’t want to follow party channels?” Oginga questioned.
The tension stems from a rally held on March 29 in Tononoka, Mombasa County, where Sifuna signaled his refusal to serve under Oginga, drawing an unfavorable comparison to his nine-year tenure working under Oginga’s brother, the former party leader Raila Odinga.
“Siwezi kuwa secretary general wa mediocrity. Mnajua mediocrity ni nini? Siwezi fanya kazi na Raila Odinga kwa zaidi ya miaka tisa alafu nifanye kazi na mtu kama Oburu,” Sifuna stated.
(“I cannot be a secretary-general for mediocrity. Do you know what mediocrity is? I cannot work with someone like Raila Odinga for more than nine years and later work under somebody like Oburu Odinga.”)
Speaking during an interview with Hot96, the ODM party leader said he would not bow down to the demands of the Nairobi Senator, who is leading the ‘Linda Mwananchi’ faction of ODM in opposing the incumbent party leader.
“When the party organizes NDC, it comes with a parallel one. When the party organises central and NEC meetings, he does not come. He is invited to all the party functions, but he chooses not to come. What do we do? He is not the Pope. Do you want us to beg him? But we don’t want to expel him; we just want to show that anyone can be disciplined, unless he expels himself from the party,” Oburu stated.
The Siaya Senator flatly dismissed any prospects of reconciliation with the rebellious secretary general, even if such a move were intended to preserve party unity or secure ODM’s future.
“We don’t have to go and beg him. He is not the Pope. Even the Pope…people go like this [bows] to the Pope. Sifuna is not the Pope. He is the Secretary General of ODM. He can be removed like any other… like any other official,” Oburu said on Hot 96’s Checkmate show.
Oginga further complicated the narrative by claiming that Sifuna fell out of favor with the party’s founding leader, Raila Odinga, long before his death in October 2025. He corroborated past reports suggesting the late Odinga had grown weary of the embattled official.
“Raila was fed up with Sifuna. Sifuna organized goons to embarrass Raila in Kakamega. And uh, Sifuna should come slowly,” Oginga stated.
Offering a piece of unsolicited advice, Oginga urged his Nairobi counterpart to temper his ambitions and show more restraint. “He is a young man. He is coming up. He should not be in a hurry to take over the party. He should learn. He should be patient,” he remarked.
Oginga also addressed recent claims by lawyer Paul Mwangi regarding the late leader’s alleged “Plan B” exit strategy within the Broad-Based Government. He brushed aside the assertions, noting that Mwangi served as a legal advisor rather than a political strategist.
“I don’t know, because I don’t know Mwangi in politics; I only knew him as Raila’s lawyer and not strategist. I was personally involved in the strategies, and I don’t remember it and even if he had it (a strategy), he could have said it to me and not Mwangi. I don’t think that is accurate, but let him say his views,” he said.
