Edwin Sifuna is a Nairobi-based lawyer and politician who currently serves as the Secretary General of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). He was appointed ODM SG in 2018 to replace Ababu Namwamba who defected from the orange party in 2016.
Sifuna was born on May 22 1986, to a prominent political family in Bungoma. His uncle, Lawrence Sifuna, was a long-serving MP who was part of the famous Seven-bearded sisters who fought against the excesses of the Moi government.
He attended Musingu High School and later joined the University of Nairobi to study law.
In 2017, he joined elective politics as he sought the ODM parliamentary ticket for Kanduyi constituency. He, however, lost the nominations but was given a direct nomination to represent his party in the Nairobi senatorial race in the same year. He came a close second to the current Nairobi Senator, Johnson Sakaja.
His helm at ODM has been characterised by a robust public engagement that has seen even rival political parties praise his running of the orange party. This is especially in regards to issues that are important to the party and party leader Raila Odinga including the BBI process, 2022 presidential nominations, and party discipline.
Away from party politics, Sifuna is an active member of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK). He is part of a team that in 2021 attempted to dislodge LSK president Nelson Havi - a former ally of the ODM secretary-general.
In the LSK elections held in 2020, Sifuna supported Havi’s rival Maria Mbeneka who came in second to the current LSK President. In the corridors of justice, Sifuna has worked on a number of high profile cases involving politicians allied to Raila Odinga.
He was initially part of the team that represented exiled Kenyan lawyer Miguna Miguna as he successfully sought to quash a deportation order made by Interior CS Fred Matiang’i.