Embattled ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has been handed temporary reprieve after Migori Senator Eddy Oketch withdrew his petition seeking the Senator's removal from the party’s top administrative post.
Oketch, through his lawyers, communicated the decision in a letter addressed to the ODM Chairperson on Tuesday, January 6, citing consultations with the party’s senior leadership and respect for the legacy of the late party leader Raila Odinga.
The lawyers said the move followed engagements with ODM Party Leader Senator Oburu Oginga, noting that the decision was guided by Raila Odinga’s long-held belief in dialogue as the preferred means of resolving internal disputes.
“Following wide consultations with the Party Leader Senator Dr Oburu Oginga and with utmost respect to the spirit of the founding Party Leader, the late Raila Amollo Odinga, who embraced dialogue even with his fiercest enemies as the most preferred method of dispute resolution, we have received further instructions from our client as hereunder,” the letter read in part.
Despite the withdrawal, Oketch’s legal team maintained that the concerns previously raised against Sifuna had not been abandoned and remained valid within the party’s structures.
They explained that the senator had, however, agreed to drop the motion in favour of resolving the dispute internally through established ODM mechanisms.
“Being cognisant of the breaches as outlined in our aforementioned letter and the offensive remarks made by Senator Edwin Sifuna both against the Party and its members, our client has in consultation with the Party Leader and the relevant Party organs been persuaded to withdraw the Motion Letter dated 5th January, 2026 and instead invoke Article 16(1)(g) of the Party Constitution,” the lawyers stated.
In his initial motion, Oketch accused Sifuna of gross misconduct, indiscipline, and sabotaging the party by often appearing to have stand.
The petition filed with the ODM party leader, Oburu Odinga, and copied to the party secretariat, had alleged that Sifuna repeatedly violated the party constitution and the Political Parties Act.
Oketch accused Sifuna of “blatant and arrogant violation” of party rules by closely associating with rival political parties while presenting himself as ODM’s Secretary General and spokesperson.
However, despite the mounting pressure on the SG, ODM's Director of Communication Philip Etale had on Monday informed journalists that the party would not oust the Nairobi Senator.
MPs from the Luhya community, led by Kabuchai lawmaker Majimbo Kalasinga, threatened on Tuesday to lead a mass exodus from the party if Sifuna was ousted.
Addressing the media, Kalasinga claimed that emerging political power plays within ODM were deliberately targeting Sifuna, warning that such actions could alienate the Luhya community.
