By Anderson Ojwang

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna got a shot in the arm after the party leader, Dr Oburu Odinga, declared confidence in him.

Sifuna emerged victorious in a battle that had seen his critics, led by Migori Senator Eddy Oketch, petition party organs to take disciplinary action against him over his stand on the broad-based alliance.

Oketch later withdrew the petition after he faced a barrage of criticism from party members and legislators, led by Suba South MP Caroli Omondi, who told him the move was bound to fail.

On Wednesday, at the ODM headquarters, Oburu held a discussion with Sifuna, whom he described as espousing the party’s democratic ideals.

The move has steadied the turbulent waters in the party, which was nearly capsizing, having been rocked by emerging divisions and coup plots.

“I met with 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,” he wrote on his X handle.

Oburu’s move has thawed a coup plot against Sifuna by a section of party leaders and Members of Parliament who wanted him kicked out of the party and removed from the Secretary General’s seat.

Oburu said the party was united and encouraged everyone to speak their mind, as that was the foundation upon which the party was formed.

“We are one. We are united as the ODM Party.

As a leader, I believe we must encourage everyone to speak their mind. Differences of opinion do not mean division. Great parties—like ODM—grow through robust debate and unique challenges.

That is where the progress and continuity of our party truly lie: in the hands of our young people.

Sisi ni chama cha mapinduzi. Tuko imara,”he wrote.

Recently, a section of ODM legislators who were alarmed by self-cannibalism in the party requested Oburu to convene an urgent party meeting to contain the self-destruct situation.

The MPs, led by ODM Vice National Chairman Dr Otiende Amolo, said the wrangles in the party were worrying and a betrayal of the party’s founder and leader, the late Raila Odinga.

They said ODM was the largest party in the country and were concerned by the spectacle of self-cannibalisation that has been exhibited of late in the party.

“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,” read the statement.

The statement, signed by Dr Otiende Amolo, Millie Odhiambo (MP, Suba North), Tom Odege (MP, Nyatike), Catherine Muma (Nominated MP), Dr John Ariko (MP, Turkana South), Martin Owino (MP, Ndhiwa) and Aduma Owuor (MP, Nyakach), called on the party leader to convene party organs to address the situation.

“It is for this reason that we request our party leader, Dr Oburu Odinga, to move with speed, convene the party’s organs and help restore public confidence in the party before we begin to haemorrhage members to insignificant political formations,” they wrote.

They sounded the alarm that as the party continues in a self-destruct mode, some parties are cashing in on the opportunity to endear themselves to the electorate.

“Even as we appear to self-cannibalise, we can’t help but curiously observe that small parties are aggressively and strategically moving to occupy the spaces previously held by our beloved ODM Party,” they said.

The reaction comes hot on the heels of a plot by a section of ODM leaders allied to National Chairperson Gladys Wanga and Director of Elections Junet Mohammed, who planned to kick out Secretary General Edwin Sifuna from the party.

At the weekend, Sifuna dismissed any attempts to eject him from the party, saying they had no capacity to do so.

Sifuna said the plot to remove him from the party was as a result of his opposition to a move by a section of party officials and members to support President William Ruto for a second term.

Senator Ledama Ole Kina asked Sifuna to ship out and wrote 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.”

Otiende called upon the party’s elected leadership and the wider membership to uphold the tenets of unity and camaraderie espoused by the late Raila Odinga.

“It is time to walk back on the rhetoric and come together to build a strong party ahead of next year’s elections,” they said.

The MPs also urged Junet and Sifuna to stop their public exchanges, saying they were undermining the unity of the party.

“Given the positions of trust bestowed on them, we urge party officials such as Secretary General Senator Edwin Sifuna and National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed to desist from public verbal slurs and return to the table for internal discussions. We encourage the Party Leader to call for an internal ‘spitting session’ to avoid the ongoing mud-fest,” they said.

By Anderson Ojwang

The raging storm over the late Raila Amolo Odinga’s presidential agents in the 2022 general elections has taken a new twist, with the Jubilee Party asking coalition Secretary General Junet Mohammed to carry his own cross.

Similarly, Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior joined the debate and revealed how he was requested to allow his agents to double as presidential agents.

In the 2022 general elections, Kenya had 52,481 polling stations, and if Raila’s central team had procured agents nationally, Raila could have walked into the ballot with 52,481 votes, which could have denied Ruto victory of 50+1 per cent and forced a rerun.

On his X handle, Mutula wrote: “The raging debate on the funds for Azimio presidential agents has provoked my thoughts. On election day, I was requested to marshal my agents to double up as presidential agents, which was bizarre, to say the least.”

The issue of agents was also witnessed in diaspora polling stations. For instance, at the Ottawa polling station in Canada, Azimio La Umoja did not have a presidential agent, while Kenya Kwanza had two agents.

Kioni has defended former President Uhuru Kenyatta over allegations of redirecting the Sh500 million agents’ funds to his blood brother to manage, saying the buck stops with Junet.

He said Uhuru was engaged in resource mobilization and that resources were allocated to Azimio La Umoja for their intended purposes.

“Uhuru was engaged in fundraising, and resources were allocated to Azimio for the intended purposes, including the payment of agents. One of the individuals in charge of managing these funds was the Secretary General, and you know who the SG of Azimio is. If we had managed it well, there is every likelihood that Raila would be in State House alive, having secured proper medical attention,” Kioni said.

Kioni said Uhuru should not be drawn into a debate where the public knows where the buck stops, which is with the Secretary General of Azimio.

He wrote on his X handle: “Attempts to turn our party leader, former President Uhuru Kenyatta, into a bogeyman is a dead end for this regime and those aligned to it.”

ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, on Saturday, without mincing his words, laid the blame for Raila’s bungled presidential campaign on the doorstep of Azimio La Umoja Secretary General Junet Mohammed.

Sifuna accused Junet of bungling Raila Amolo Odinga’s campaign by failing to pay presidential agents.

“You were eating Uhuru’s money instead of paying agents and allowed Wamunyoro (Rigathi Gachagua and President William Ruto) to defeat us.

The day we start the audit of the 2022 elections, it is good that you have started the debate. Let everyone say their contributions in the 2022 general elections.

I want to ask Junet Mohammed, when did Uhuru Kenyatta’s money start to be bad? Those days you used to take Uhuru’s money, some you didn’t bring to the party, and some you squandered,”he said.

The Azimio La Umoja Volunteer Board, through one of its members, Ronny Raburo, said it was wrong for Junet to shed crocodile tears after failing to address the Central Kenya agents’ issue.

Raburo, who met the late Raila at breakfast ahead of the elections over the emerging presidential agents’ issue in Central Kenya, said the former Prime Minister tasked Junet to urgently handle the matter.

Ronny Raburo said that despite addressing the agents’ issue with Raila at a breakfast meeting and detailing Junet to urgently handle the matter, the latter went mute.

He said that two days to the eve of polling day, while attending the last agents’ training at the Kenya School of Law in Karen, they were informed from the ground that there was not a single agent in all the Central Province polling stations for IEBC briefing, and they sensed trouble.

“Raila called Junet and told him to handle our issue as a matter of urgency. We went downstairs with Junet to meet Julie Nabwera and Jackie (members of the volunteer board) after our briefing on the situation in Central Kenya.

Junet gave me his number to call him later in the day to meet him at the Kenya School of Law, Karen. Junet is yet to receive my calls to date,”he wrote.

Junet accused Uhuru of releasing the agents’ funds to his brother and not to the secretariat.

“The answer is simple, clear and verifiable: former President Uhuru Kenyatta released the funds meant for election agents to his blood brother, Muhoho Kenyatta,” he said.

Junet said Muhoho Kenyatta, whom he claimed appointed one Mr Patrick Mburu, took charge of the recruitment and payment of agents.

“Mr Mburu presented himself as an IT expert, claiming he had the capacity to detect and prevent any manipulation of results by the IEBC.”

Junet claimed that around the time, Muhoho Kenyatta operated from an office in Westlands that was so restricted that even Raila Odinga, the party’s presidential candidate, could not access it freely.

“It is from this office — out of bounds for nearly all of us — that they claimed to handle the agents’ payments and other logistics. These are facts, not conjecture. I challenge Uhuru Kenyatta and Muhoho Kenyatta to publicly deny these facts,” he said.

After the general election, the Azimio La Umoja Coalition dismissed allegations that some members of the secretariat squandered money budgeted for agents in the August 2022 elections.

This followed claims that top officials at the secretariat misused the funds, forcing some polling stations to miss out on agents.

Azimio spokesperson Prof Makau Mutua, in a statement at the time, defended Junet, who was on the receiving end of criticism.

Raila’s chief agent in the August 9 elections, Saitabao Kanchory, claimed that ODM only listened to one person — Suna East MP Junet Mohamed.

“We could not have lost this election if it weren’t for three people. The first one is Junet Mohamed, the second is Joe Mucheru, and the third is Makau Mutua. These are people I have worked with and respect, but in terms of responsibility, they take the highest responsibility,” he said on NTV.

According to Kanchory, Junet ran a one-man show, and the former Prime Minister sided with everything he said, even when it was clearly wrong.

“The only person Baba would listen to without question was Junet. Even if you had the truth and you told Baba, and Junet came with darkness, Baba would side with Junet,” he said.

“Junet Mohamed is one man who purported to know everything. He nullified everything everyone said and made sure he kept people who could have helped Baba (Raila) at arm’s length. He ensured nobody came close to Baba who would have helped him.”

By Anderson Ojwang

The pressure is mounting on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Director of Elections, Junet Mohammed, to resign over the alleged bungling of the late Raila Odinga’s 2022 presidential campaigns.

Uriri MP Mark Nyamita wants Junet to resign as the Director of Elections after he failed to deliver the presidency in the 2022 general elections.

Junet was the Secretary General of the Azimio La Umoja Coalition in the 2022 general elections and was charged with handling the secretariat.

“I told Junet that in a mature democracy, when you are the director of campaigns and director of elections and you fail in that election, the honourable thing to do is to resign,” he said.

Nyamita blamed Junet for bungling Raila’s 2022 presidential bid and said he should never be allowed to dictate and control community politics.

“Donge ngani ema okethonwa gigi kod gimiel moko matindo tindo (He is the one who bungled the elections with petty dance). We are in pain as a people. Wan gi rem kaka oganda (we are in pain as a community). Kendo koro sani odwa pango wango (Now he wants to plan us as a community). Nyasaye achiel wangni wabiro deal kodi (One God, we will deal with you this time).”

Last Saturday, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna accused Junet of bungling the 2022 presidential campaigns and of alleged misappropriation of agents’ fees meant for Central Kenya.

“You were eating Uhuru’s money instead of paying agents and allowed Wamunyoro (Rigathi Gachagua and President William Ruto) to defeat us.

The day we start the audit of the 2022 elections, it is good that you have started the debate. Let everyone say their contributions in the 2022 general elections.

I want to ask Junet Mohammed, when did Uhuru Kenyatta’s money start to be bad? Those days you used to take Uhuru’s money, some you did not bring to the party, and some you squandered,”he said.

Similarly, the Azimio La Umoja Volunteer Board, through one of its members, Ronny Raburo, accused Junet of shedding crocodile tears after failing to address the Central Kenya agents’ issue.

Raburo, who met the late Raila at breakfast ahead of the elections over the emerging presidential agents’ issue in Central Kenya, said the former Prime Minister tasked Junet to urgently handle the matter.

Ronny Raburo said that despite addressing the agents’ issue with Raila at a breakfast meeting and detailing Junet to urgently handle the matter, the latter went mute.

He said that two days to the eve of polling day, while attending the last agents’ training at the Kenya School of Law in Karen, they were informed from the ground that there was not a single agent in all the Central Province polling stations for IEBC briefing, and they sensed trouble.

“Raila called Junet and told him to handle our issue as a matter of urgency. We went downstairs with Junet to meet Julie Nabweara and Jackie (members of the volunteer board) after our briefing on the situation in Central Kenya.

Junet gave me his number to call him later in the day to meet him at the Kenya School of Law, Karen. Junet is yet to receive my calls to date,”he wrote.

Junet denied the allegations and instead accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta of releasing the agents’ funds to his brother and not to the secretariat.

“The answer is simple, clear and verifiable: former President Uhuru Kenyatta released the funds meant for election agents to his blood brother, Muhoho Kenyatta,” he said.

Junet said Muhoho Kenyatta, whom he claimed appointed one Mr Patrick Mburu, took charge of the recruitment and payment of agents.

“Mr Mburu presented himself as an IT expert, claiming he had the capacity to detect and prevent any manipulation of results by the IEBC.”

Junet claimed that around the time, Muhoho Kenyatta operated from an office in Westlands that was so restricted that even Raila Odinga, the party’s presidential candidate, could not access it freely.

“It is from this office — out of bounds for nearly all of us — that they claimed to handle the agents’ payments and other logistics. These are facts, not conjecture. I challenge Uhuru Kenyatta and Muhoho Kenyatta to publicly deny these facts,” he said.

Will Junet brave the post-Raila Odinga politics to remain at the helm of the party and oversee the party nominations?

By Anderson Ojwang

In Central Kenya, where the late Raila Amolo Odinga was loathed and loved in equal measure, last saturday turned into the cradle of truth on how his 2022 presidential election was bungled by the key men he entrusted to lead the Canaan dream.

On Wednesday, January 7, Raila would have celebrated his 81st birthday, but now his friends and foes are being treated to dark secrets by his trusted key men on how they bungled the election and handed over the presidency to William Ruto and his deputy, the impeached Rigathi Gachagua.

Raila was loved by Mt Kenya in 2002 and was christened Njamba for delivering the presidency to the late Mwai Kibaki and to the region after 24 years in the cold under President Daniel Arap Moi’s rule — a passing cloud that never was.

But after the fallout with the late Kibaki, Raila returned to his old skin — hated and loathed — a scion of the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first Vice President, an ally turned foe to the founding father of the nation, the late Jomo Kenyatta, who led the Agikuyu community to an oath that the presidency should not visit the Lake.

At a burial in Murang’a County, attended by Gachagua, a former Ruto ally and a former personal assistant to former President Uhuru Kenyatta, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, without mincing his words, laid the blame for Raila’s bungled presidential campaign at the doorstep of Azimio La Umoja Secretary General Junet Mohammed.

Interestingly, the late Raila’s Central team was composed of then President Uhuru Kenyatta, who had declared his support for the former Prime Minister’s presidential bid.

In Uhuru’s team, which formed the cog and apex of Raila’s campaign machinery, were then Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i and then Principal Secretary for Interior Dr Karanja Kibicho.

On Raila’s side in the team was Suna East MP Junet Mohammed, who had wriggled his way in and became the most trusted man. Junet had Raila’s ear, and his word was like law to Raila, never to be broken.

Currently, Matiang’i has recently been made Jubilee Party deputy party leader and its presidential candidate in the 2027 general elections.

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino was the first to claim that Raila was set up and made to believe that he would win the election.

“Raila was designed to fail and he believed he would be made president. He fell into the trap and the agents were not paid in Central Kenya, and that is how we lost the election,” he said after the 2022 elections.

Tough questions

The tough questions that have emerged are why Central Kenya, with a vote of 4,453,106, did not have agents while it was the backyard of President Uhuru and Kibicho.

Ruto won the presidential contest in the region, garnering 2,938,802 votes against Raila’s 847,205 votes.

Where did the Sh500 million earmarked for agents go, and who was it paid to, or who pocketed it? If agents were recruited, who recruited them, and is there a list?

Number of polling stations in Kenya and how that was used to deny Raila victory

In the 2022 general elections, Kenya had 52,481 polling stations, and if Raila’s Central team had procured agents nationally, Raila could have walked into the ballot with 52,481 votes strong, which could have denied Ruto the 50+1 per cent victory and forced a rerun.

Junet said that once Muhoho Kenyatta took charge, “they never procured any agents for Raila Odinga, not in Mt Kenya and not in Luo Nyanza. It was a long con game.”

How Sifuna lit the fire that may consume political careers in the post-Raila political matrix

Sifuna accused Junet of bungling Raila Amolo Odinga’s bid by failing to pay presidential agents.

“You were eating Uhuru’s money instead of paying agents and allowed Wamunyoro (Rigathi Gachagua and President William Ruto) to defeat us.

The day we start the audit of the 2022 elections, it is good you have started the debate. Let everyone state their contributions in the 2022 general elections.

I want to ask Junet Mohammed, when did Uhuru Kenyatta’s money start to be bad? Those days you used to take Uhuru’s money, and some you didn’t bring to the party, and some you squandered,”he said.

The Azimio La Umoja volunteer alarm bell that Junet never responded to

The Azimio La Umoja Volunteer Board, through one of its members, Ronny Raburo, said it was wrong for Junet to shed crocodile tears when he failed to address the Central Kenya agents’ issue.

Raburo, who met with the late Raila at breakfast ahead of the elections over the emerging presidential agents’ issue in Central Kenya, said the former Prime Minister tasked Junet to urgently handle the matter.

Ronny Raburo said that despite addressing the agents’ issue with Raila at the breakfast meeting and Raila directing Junet to urgently handle the matter, the latter went mute.

He said that two days to the eve of polling day, while attending the last agents’ training at the Kenya School of Law in Karen, they were informed from the ground that there was not a single agent in all the Central Province polling stations for IEBC briefing, and they sensed trouble.

“Raila called Junet and told him to handle our issue as a matter of urgency. We went downstairs with Junet to meet with Julie Nabweara and Jackie (members of the volunteer board), after our brief on the situation in Central Kenya.

Junet gave me his number to call him later in the day to meet him at the Kenya School of Law, Karen. Junet is yet to receive my calls to date,”he wrote.

The Uhuru factor and the funds

Junet accused Uhuru of releasing the agents’ funds to his brother and not to the secretariat.

“The answer is simple, clear and verifiable: former President Uhuru Kenyatta released the funds meant for election agents to his blood brother, Muhoho Kenyatta,” he said.

Junet said Muhoho Kenyatta appointed one Mr Patrick Mburu to take charge of the recruitment and payment of agents.

“Mr Mburu presented himself as an IT expert, claiming he had the capacity to detect and prevent any manipulation of results by the IEBC.”

The restricted office

Junet claimed that around the time, Muhoho Kenyatta operated from an office in Westlands that was so restricted that even Raila Odinga, the party’s presidential candidate, could not access it freely.

“It is from this office — out of bounds for nearly all of us — that they claimed to handle the agents’ payments and other logistics. These are facts, not conjecture. I challenge Uhuru Kenyatta and Muhoho Kenyatta to publicly deny these facts,” he said.

“Let the record also be set straight: Hon Raila Odinga would have had no reason whatsoever to appoint me — Hon Junet Mohammed — as the Leader of Minority in the National Assembly if I had truly betrayed him.

For years, I handled all the delicate assignments from our late dear Party Leader with fidelity and diligence,”he said.

He challenged Uhuru, Muhoho and Mburu to come clean on the matter and deny his claims.

The blame game

After the general election, the Azimio La Umoja Coalition dismissed allegations that some members of the secretariat squandered money budgeted for agents in the August 2022 elections.

This was after claims that top officials at the secretariat misused the money, forcing some polling stations to miss out on agents.

Azimio spokesperson Prof Makau Mutua, in a statement at the time, defended Junet, who was on the receiving end of criticism.

Junet had Raila’s ear

Raila’s chief agent in the August 9 elections, Saitabao Kanchory, claimed that ODM listened to only one person — Suna East MP Junet Mohamed.

“We could not have lost this election if it weren’t for three people. The first one is Junet Mohamed, the second is Joe Mucheru and the third is Makau Mutua. These are people I have worked with and respect, but in terms of responsibility, they take the highest responsibility,” he said on NTV.

According to Kanchory, Junet ran a one-man show and the former Prime Minister sided with everything he said, even when he could clearly see it was wrong.

“The only person Baba would listen to without question was Junet. Even if you had the truth and you told Baba, and Junet came with darkness, Baba would side with Junet,” he said.

“Junet Mohamed is one man who purported to know everything, and he nullified everything everyone said and also made sure he kept people who could have helped Baba (Raila) at arm’s length. He ensured nobody came close to Baba who would have helped him.”