By Anderson Ojwang
In the last Parliament, the late Raila Amolo Odinga made one of the worst political blunders of his life. Raila fell into the trap of advisers who were only interested in their cheap and selfish gains.
The advisers failed to look at the bigger political picture and realignment ahead of the 2022 presidential contest, choosing instead to satisfy their egos and leaving Raila to carry his own cross. After all, Raila was a bridge to be misused and dumped at an opportune time.
Raila agreed to swap the Senate Minority leadership from Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula to Siaya Senator James Orengo. Wetang’ula warned Raila and his team that the move would lead to premium tears.
In their celebratory moment, they ignored Wetang’ula’s warning, singing and dancing over a short-lived victory. Indeed, the prophecy came to pass in the 2022 presidential election.
The coup
Despite a letter signed by NASA CEO Norman Magaya to Senate Speaker Kenneth Lusaka indicating that the four coalition principals led by Raila were against the changes, the move went ahead.
Wetang’ula, a NASA co-principal alongside Raila, Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka of the Wiper Party and Musalia Mudavadi of the Amani National Congress, was removed through a process instigated by ODM senators.
Speaker Lusaka, while delivering his ruling, said: “Senator Moses Wetang’ula’s service as the Senate Minority Leader ceases with immediate effect, and Senator James Orengo is forthwith recognised as the Senate Minority Leader. Honourable Senator, it is so directed, and I thank you.”
The justification for Wetang’ula’s ouster was that he was undermining ODM colleagues and being rude to fellow senators. The plotters failed to appreciate his role as a coalition co-principal and instead opted to humiliate him.
The warning
Speaking on the floor of the House, Wetang’ula warned: “If anyone wants a divorce, it will be noisy and messy. It will not be easy.”
This prophetic statement was dismissed by excited ODM legislators as mere rhetoric tied to the Senate coup, without appreciating its implications for the 2022 presidential election.
Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni retorted: “We are also able to deliver the divorce, and we have delivered it in a quick and swift manner, and we have done it with finality.”
Ford Kenya MPs later reinforced the warning at a press conference, stating that “choices have consequences, and that means there is bad blood.”
Premium tears
Indeed, ODM and Raila were forced to eat humble pie in the 2022 presidential election. Wetang’ula shifted allegiance and joined Deputy President William Ruto to form the Kenya Kwanza Alliance, bringing Musalia Mudavadi along.
In 2022, Ruto won Bungoma County with 255,755 votes against Raila’s 145,106. In the 2017 General Election, President Uhuru Kenyatta had garnered 127,415 votes, while Raila won Bungoma with 287,316 votes.
It is telling that the coup against Wetang’ula cost Raila 142,210 votes, yet Ruto won the presidency by a margin of about 200,000 votes. Wetang’ula injected Ruto with an additional 12,340 votes beyond what Kenya Kwanza previously had with Uhuru, propelling him to victory.
Indeed, the divorce was noisy, messy and full of premium tears for Raila and the Azimio la Umoja coalition.
Sifuna, the marked man
Currently, a section of ODM leadership championing the broad-based government arrangement and a pre-election pact with President William Ruto wants ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna removed from office for allegedly derailing the engagement.
Sifuna has dismissed any attempts to kick him out, stating that his detractors lack the capacity to do so. He insists the plot against him stems from his opposition to a section of party officials pushing for President Ruto’s second term.
Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina asked Sifuna to leave, writing on his X handle: “If you want to leave the ODM Party, go ahead—no one is stopping you. Don’t wait to be kicked out, because that’s exactly what will happen soon. Enough with empty threats—this noise is getting out of hand.”
On Monday, Sifuna and ODM Deputy Party Leader Geoffrey Osotsi skipped the ODM Central Committee meeting, which mandated Oburu to commence coalition negotiations.
A voice of reason
Mama Ida Odinga, during Raila’s posthumous birthday commemoration, urged the party leadership not to kill ODM but to preserve it as a legacy.
Her actions spoke louder than words when she hugged Sifuna in a show of trust and confidence, declaring: “Edwin Sifuna is going nowhere. He is Baba’s son.”
She added in Dholuo: “Kawuono otho to oriambo nyithindo moko e ot. Unyalo bedo kod guandruok to bed uru piny mondo ulosi. Onge ng’ato ma iriembo kendo onge ng’ato ma wuok.”
(“If your father is dead, do you chase away some of his children? You may have differences, but you must sit down and resolve them. Nobody is being chased away, and nobody is leaving the party.”)
She called for dialogue to resolve internal disputes and avert a fallout.
“Let us solve the problems of the party by always asking ourselves, what would Baba do under these circumstances? I am sure Baba would tell us to sit down and talk. That is my wish—to sit down and resolve our differences,” she said.
The plot
Migori Senator Eddy Oketch recently petitioned party organs to take disciplinary action against Sifuna over his stance on the broad-based alliance.
The move attracted sharp criticism from party members and legislators, led by Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, who said it was bound to fail.
Caroli wrote on X: “Senator Eddy Oketch is once again the complainant against his colleague Senator Edwin Sifuna over allegations that have no legal legs to stand on. He will most certainly lose again should he continue with this misadventure.”
Oburu later held discussions with Sifuna, describing him as a principled leader who embodies ODM’s democratic ideals.
“I met my friend, Senator Edwin Sifuna, the Secretary General of the ODM Party, this morning. He remains a sober and principled voice, embodying the democratic ideals we believe in as a party,” Oburu wrote on his X handle.
Cannibalism
Recently, a section of ODM legislators alarmed by what they termed self-cannibalism within the party asked Oburu to convene an urgent meeting to contain the unfolding self-destruct sequence.
The MPs, led by ODM Vice National Chairman Dr Otiende Amollo, warned that the wrangles were a betrayal of the party’s founder, the late Raila Odinga.
“It is testament to how much we miss the wisdom and iconic leadership of our departed Rt Hon Raila Odinga that divisive rhetoric has taken over our politics without restraint,” the statement read.
“Even as we appear to self-cannibalise, we cannot help but curiously observe that small parties are aggressively and strategically moving to occupy spaces previously held by our beloved ODM Party.”
Will Oburu learn from the Orengo–Wetang’ula Senate dynamics and avoid turning ODM into a Luo party, thereby destroying its national outlook?
