By Anderson Ojwang
A lonely voice of reason, in the midst of a storm, confusion, infighting and division, in the troubled waters of Kenya’s main opposition party, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Wakili Millie Odhiambo, scorned and threatened with violence over her lonely voice of reason, has been vindicated by the reality check that has now emerged in the Linda Ground faction of Dr Oburu Oginga.
The Suba North MP, the lone voice of reason, has faced constant boos and threats from goons over her stand on issues in the party.
Millie, not new to controversy, was once recognized for her passionate and dedicated crusade for the rights of the girl child in the country.
The Kilifi ODM NEC and goons drama
The ODM National Executive Council which convened in Kilifi was a stab in the back of the founding party leader, the late Raila Amolo Odinga, when, despite protests from various quarters, they opted to sack the Secretary General Edwin Sifuna.
In a scathing revelation, Millie said goons were transported from Nairobi to Kilifi and they even threatened to beat her up.
“I was shouted down by goons. There were goons who were brought from Nairobi to come and beat me up. When I told our people what I am telling you today, some goons were sent to beat me up in Kilifi,” she revealed.
In a statement after the meeting, the ODM read: “The Party National Executive Committee meeting in Mombasa today has resolved to relieve Secretary General Edwin Sifuna of his responsibilities with immediate effect. Effectively, Catherine Omanyo, who is one of the deputy secretaries general, will act in this position until a substantive holder of the office is elected.”
A besieged Oburu, in an earlier statement, said ODM was a members’ club and those in it must abide by the rules of membership.
The question, therefore, is: were the goons brought from Nairobi to Kilifi to humiliate Sifuna and the dissidents?
It is not lost on Kenyans how ODM has constantly deployed goons to harass and cause violence against dissenting voices in the party.
The first casualty was the Secretary General Langat Margerer, who was hounded out of office by goons after a party meeting at the ODM office in the Kilimani area of Nairobi.
Then Ababu Namwamba also faced a similar fate when the Men in Black scuttled the party’s National Delegates Conference, which was meant to elect new officials.
Sifuna was expected to be the next meal for the goons but evaded the beating after he failed to attend the Dr Oburu Oginga-led meetings.
Build the party or scatter all
Millie has argued that her concern was about building the party and not scattering the party members.
“If you see me remain calm, there is a reason. You only know half of what is happening. You do not know what is happening. When you see Millie restrained, there is a reason. I told our people that we should tread carefully. Let us first build the party and make it strong, so that when we go into negotiations, we negotiate from a point of strength,” she said.
Millie said she warned her fellow party officials against sacking and chasing Sifuna away from the party, and that politics is dynamic.
“I told them not to chase away Sifuna and that politics would determine his future, whether to stay or to go away. Because we do not know when we may need the Luhya community in future. What will we tell the Luhya community after we chased away their son? We will need their support in future, and we must be very careful,” she said.
Millie said instead of the party officials listening to her concerns and point of view, she was threatened.
“I was told, ‘Millie, we will beat you up properly.’ The goons told me to sit down and stop expressing contrary opinions to the members,” she said.
The party National Chairperson Gladys Wanga stoked the fire further by writing a show-cause letter to Sifuna asking why he should not be disciplined.
Wanga wrote the show-cause letter captioned “Notice to Show Cause.”
She said the NEC meeting of February 11th, 2026, resolved to initiate proceedings for Sifuna’s removal over alleged gross misconduct.
The charges include contradiction of party position, persistent public contradictions of party resolutions, further contradictory statements, establishment of parallel and unsanctioned political initiatives, other charges being failure to attend and participate in party meetings, and conduct prejudicial to the party.
“You are hereby required to show cause, in writing, within four days from the date hereof, and in any event not later than close of business on Wednesday, 8th April 2026, as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against you. Upon receipt and consideration of your response, appear before a constituted panel appointed by the NEC, in accordance with the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanism for hearing and determination of this matter at 10.00 am, at a venue to be communicated in due course,” Wanga wrote.
The Linda Mwananchi shocker
Millie said her colleagues in the Linda Mwananchi rallies would only go for a week, and after that, Sifuna and his colleagues would be forgotten and things would fall into place.
“They said Sifuna would only have a week of rallies and that he was a passing cloud. When Millie said these things, they wanted to beat me up. At the Ciala meeting in Kisumu, I was booed. And now the reason why I was being booed are now the issues they are talking about. What I said previously and why I was shouted down is the current debate the party is advocating,” she said.
Last Sunday, Sifuna and Linda Mwananchi held a successful rally in Kisumu, and threats by Linda Ground to scuttle it failed miserably.
What next for Millie?
Millie is viewed as a sober and level-headed politician, and it may just be a matter of time before she joins the Linda Mwananchi wing.
