Jared Okello, a Member of Parliament from Nyando, has been proposed as the most qualified candidate to succeed Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as the party secretary general of the Orange Democratic Movement.
Okello was suggested by Alego Usonga MP Sam Atandi, who called out Sifuna for criticising the agreement between the Kenya Kwanza government and Raila Odinga.
''If you threaten us that you can leave ODM, you are free to leave, even Jared Okello is here; he can take up the responsibility. He has better English; he was schooled in England and has better English than these leaders purporting to be speaking for the party,'' Atandi said.
Speaking at St. Michael Boro Secondary School in Central Alego ward during the commissioning of a modern Educational Complex at the school, Atandi warned Sifuna against speaking ill of the agreement.
He also warned the senator against threatening to leave the party, citing that he would not be the first to leave, as others had left before, and the party never crumbled.
''ODM will never be brought down by one rhetoric; if ODM were to fall, it would have done so during the exit of Ababu Namwamba; however, he went, and the party is still strong,'' the MP continued.
Sifuna, the current Secretary General of ODM, stirred a heated debate within the Raila-led party after he admitted that the agreement between ODM and Kenya Kwanza was passive and that even members of the party were confused about what was going on.
“I struggle to explain that we are the same political party. If we stick with this government until 2027 without preparing the party, we’ll lose the chance to explain to Kenyans what we were doing with Ruto all this time,” Sifuna said in an interview on Citizen TV.
Although Raila defended Sifuna and reiterated the democratic and freedom of speech aspect of the party, ODM leaders are still going hard on Sifuna.
''If you think you know so much and you can even counter what Raila is saying, then you are treading on a very slippery path; we don't care or fear anybody; the party cannot be taken down by a single rhetoric,'' Atandi reiterated.
Okello, Sifuna's suggested replacement, has been an MP elected on an ODM ticket since 2017, and has consistently aligned himself with the party’s leadership, especially Raila Odinga.
He’s known for his vocal support of ODM’s participation in the Kenya Kwanza government, even pledging to back all government-sponsored bills.
