![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/d27d2b68-0d94-4849-bfb8-2ea4b60b12ed.jpeg\")
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin
\nSifuna\/FILE<\/p>\n
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin
\nSifuna\/FILE<\/p>\n
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin
\nSifuna has downplayed internal divisions within the party, saying that he will
\nnot be the person to preside over the collapse of the political outfit.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Wednesday, Sifuna said he had listened to the
\ncounsel offered by Mama Ida Odinga and reiterated a pledge he previously made at
\nthe burial of the late opposition icon, Raila Odinga.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have listened to every word that you have said, and as I
\nsaid at Mzee (Raila Odinga\u2019s) burial, it will not be Sifuna to wreck ODM
\nparty,\u201d Sifuna said. \u201cI made that promise to Mzee, and I want to repeat it
\nhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing criticism he has faced from within ODM, the
\nNairobi senator insisted that personal attacks would not deter him from
\nengaging with colleagues for the sake of party unity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe advice that you\u2019ve given, Mama, I want to tell you
\nthere is no one in ODM. It doesn\u2019t matter how many times, how badly you\u2019ve
\ninsulted me, there is none in ODM I will not sit down with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sifuna emphasized that reconciliation remains possible
\ndespite past disagreements, saying he was ready to heed calls for dialogue and
\nbridge-building. <\/p>\n
He acknowledged Mama Ida\u2019s appeal for party leaders to
\nengage one another and resolve their differences through conversation rather
\nthan public confrontation.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have asked us to sit and talk. I am very prepared. It
\ndoesn\u2019t matter what has happened between us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In a gesture aimed at easing tensions, Sifuna said he was
\nextending an olive branch to party members with whom relations have been
\nstrained, noting the symbolic role Mama Ida continues to play within ODM and
\nthe broader Odinga family.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs mama has said, I\u2019m going to extend that olive branch,
\nbecause mama, sahii wewe ndiye uko,\u201d he said, mixing English and Kiswahili to
\nunderscore his point. \u201cIt is water under the bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ODM Secretary General\u2019s remarks come at a time when the
\nparty is grappling with questions about internal cohesion, discipline and its
\npolitical future. <\/p>\n
There have been simmering tensions within the party, with
\nrival factions trading accusations over leadership style, loyalty and the
\nparty\u2019s direction following recent political realignments. <\/p>\n
Earlier, Mama Ida had called on the leadership of ODM to
\nembrace dialogue as the only way to solve challenges facing the party.<\/p>\n
Ida said that in the time when the party is undergoing
\npolitical turmoil, Raila would have called for dialogue to ensure existing
\nissues are addressed amicably.<\/p>\n
“Raila run ODM on the principle of constant
\nconsultation and always referring to the people. It is my wish that we can
\npreserve the party in his honour as a matter of service to our country,”
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
“I appeal to those Baba left in the leadership of the
\nparty to reflect deeply and sincerely on his dreams for the party and for our
\ncountry.”<\/p>\n
“Let us support the problems of the party by always
\nasking ourselves, what would Baba do under these circumstances? I guess your
\nguess is as good as mine. I’m sure Baba would tell us, let us sit down and
\ntalk.”<\/p>\n
The wrangles have rocked the party\u00a0barely three months
\nafter the passing of ODM leader Raila.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin
Sifuna\/FILE Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin
Sifuna has downplayed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6769,80,6768,2204,1223,1222,98,100,101,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-9718","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-infighting","9":"tag-kenya","10":"tag-mama-ida","11":"tag-odm","12":"tag-raila","13":"tag-sifuna","14":"tag-star-news","15":"tag-star-news-kenya","16":"tag-the-star","17":"tag-the-star-newspaper"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}