ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna is under fire over his role in the current leadership confusion
witnessed at the troubled Nairobi county assembly. Sifuna’s name has been sucked into the fiasco after he wrote a letter to counter the ouster of besieged majority whip Peter Imwatok who was accused of tainting the image of the party through his shoddy deals. Prior to the letter from Sifuna, Imwatok was overheard bragging how he had pocketed the ODM party secretary general to defend him against his own party members baying for his blood.
Edwin SifunaAfter his successful ouster from the prestigious position, a worried Imwatok was seen camping at the Orange House where he reportedly reached a backdoor deal with the party Sifuna to overturn the verdict by the ODM MCAs. He even cited that Sifuna was from Western like him and could not sit back and watch his troubles sour at the City Hall yet he was ready to offer him a bribe, which apparently is the order of the day at ODM, just like any other political party in Africa. The fallout between Imwatok and his colleagues was so deep and at one particular time the irate MCAs vandalised his office at the county assembly. One of the MCAs told Weekly Citizen that the gesture was aimed at sending a message to the ODM party leader Raila Odinga on the true picture of events on the ground as opposed to lies from party cartels led by Sifuna.
Peter ImwatokThe ward representatives in the party thereafter resorted to signature collection after losing confidence in the leadership of the minority whip. The second term MCA is accused by his colleagues of allegedly using the party’s name in bad light at the county government to advance his selfish interests. One of the leading faces in the signature drive to kick out Imwatok was the Highrise ward MCA Kennedy Oyugi who pointed out that they were not ready to condone corruption. Those against Imwatok wondered why he has perfected the art of fighting almost every leader at the county, an attitude he ostensibly developed since the inception of the assembly. But when he was finally ousted and replaced by Lower Savanna MCA Nicholas Okumu, Imwatok is said to have literally cried like a small child.
Kennedy OyugiHowever, to block his ouster, Imwatok and Sifuna colluded to spin a propaganda that the MCAs behind his removal were working with the Jubilee leadership under the command of majority leader Abdi Guyo. To spread the propaganda effectively, Imwatok authored a letter accusing seven ODM MCAs of colluding with Jubilee party MCAs to initiate a coup in the ODM leadership during a recent special sitting. Instead of taking action against Imwatok, Sifuna has responded that ODM did not sanction his removal saying that the coup did not have any blessing from the party. Buoyed by Sifuna’s sentiments, Imwatok resorted to threats and intimidation with seven MCAs who actively participated in his removal now being threatened with expulsion from the party and dewhipping from committees.
Maurice Otieno GariThose marked are Maurice Gari (Nairobi West), Redson Otieno (Ngei), Nicholas Okumu (Lower Savanna), Jared Okode (Mathare North), Kennedy Oyugi (Highrise), Clarence Munga (Kabiro) and Fredrick Omondi (Kayole Central). Those we talked to questioned why Sifuna is protecting a face linked to corruption which ODM as a party is against. Imwatok troubles started when he was compromised in a shoddy Sh50 million payment that saw him by a Toyota V8 and an apartment along Langata road all registered in the name of his wife. He is said to have received Sh15 million in the deal.
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