A sharp political rupture has cracked open inside Kenya’s Orange Democratic Movement after Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino issued a combative declaration Thursday, warning that the party’s decision to remove Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as Secretary General amounts to a violation of the ODM constitution and will not go unchallenged.
Speaking before journalists in Nairobi one day after the ODM National Executive Committee convened in the coastal city of Mombasa and resolved to strip Sifuna of the administrative post, Owino levelled pointed criticism at senior party figures who backed the move, questioning whether they had followed the party’s own rules.
Owino denounces ‘irregular’ Mombasa NEC meeting
“I want to state that the removal of Sifuna from office is not taken lightly by this team, and I want to condemn the leaders who made this decision,” Owino told reporters, flanked by Siaya Governor James Orengo, Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi and Winnie Odinga — a visible show of strength from the pro-Sifuna wing of the party. Sifuna himself did not attend the Mombasa gathering.
The war has been declared. A line has been drawn. If you are on our side, you are on our side. If you are on the other side, then fight on the other side.
— Babu Owino, MP, Embakasi East
Owino challenged both the procedural and moral legitimacy of the Mombasa session, arguing it was engineered specifically to unseat Sifuna. “We know what Baba stood for — justice, fair hearing and fair trial,” he said, invoking the legacy of ODM’s founding spirit. “The meeting that took place in Mombasa was irregular. That meeting was set up to remove the current Secretary General of ODM, Edwin Sifuna, from office.”
Oath-breakers, procedure and party law
Owino went further, accusing the leaders who voted for removal of breaking a sacred commitment. “These leaders were seen at one point in Mombasa taking a sacred oath to uphold and protect the party constitution — the same constitution they are now not following,” he said. “There was no proper procedure followed. There is no way that office holders can remove the Secretary General from office without following the law and the party constitution.”
Sifuna framed as champion of ordinary Kenyans
Beyond the procedural argument, Owino cast the dispute in ideological terms, defending Sifuna as a voice for the economically vulnerable. “The only mistake Sifuna committed — and the only mistake we are committing — is to fight for the downtrodden, to fight for the forgotten in this society, to fight for the less privileged in Kenya, to fight for jobs for our youth and to speak against the high cost of living,” he said.
The NEC, meanwhile, appointed Deputy Secretary General Catherine Omanyo to serve in an acting capacity while the party prepares to hold elections for a substantive replacement. The party has not publicly elaborated on the precise grounds for Sifuna’s removal.
The unfolding standoff is expected to test ODM’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms as rival factions harden their positions. Whether the matter heads to party arbitration, the courts or the court of public opinion remains unclear — but Owino left little doubt that he intends to push the confrontation to its limits. “This is not going to stop anytime soon,” he warned.
