By Kepher Otieno - Reporter
Kenya, 7 January 2026 - In a swift, calculated show of unity, ODM party leader Oburu Oginga Odinga has moved to douse simmering tensions within the party, publicly sealing a truce with Secretary General Edwin Sifuna as rumours swirled about an alleged plot to remove the youthful firebrand from his post.
The intervention comes against the backdrop of heated exchanges and political shenanigans involving Sifuna and Suna East MP Junet Mohamed—a spat that had begun to spill into the public arena and fuel speculation of deepening factional rifts inside the party which the late Raila Odinga led for decades.
Oburu’s statement after a closed-door meeting with Sifuna was both conciliatory and strategic, signaling a deliberate effort by the party’s old guard to steady the ship.
“I met with my friend, Senator Edwin Sifuna, the Secretary General of the ODM Party this morning,” Oburu said, striking a tone of personal warmth and institutional reassurance.
“He remains a sober and principled voice, embodying the democratic ideals we believe in as a party.”
Those words were not accidental. At a time when ODM is navigating succession anxieties, generational transition, and the pressures of opposition politics, Oburu’s endorsement served as a clear rebuttal to claims that Sifuna was on borrowed time. By framing Sifuna as both “sober” and “principled,” Oburu effectively countered narratives portraying the Nairobi senator as reckless or overly confrontational in his clashes with party heavyweights.
More importantly, Oburu leaned into the symbolism of unity. “We are one. We are united as the ODM Party,” he declared, an emphatic message aimed as much at restless party insiders as at an attentive national audience. The statement appeared designed to shut down talk of camps forming around competing power centers, particularly following the public sparring between Sifuna and Junet, a close ally of the late Raila.
Yet Oburu did not paper over the existence of internal disagreement.
Instead, he reframed it as a strength rather than a threat.
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“As a leader, I believe we must encourage everyone to speak their mind. Differences of opinion do not mean division,” he said.
In doing so, Oburu positioned ODM’s internal debates as evidence of democratic vitality, not decay. “Great parties—like ODM—grow through robust debate and unique challenges. That is where the progress and continuity of our party truly lie: in the hands of our young people.”
This was perhaps the most politically loaded line of the entire statement. By explicitly locating ODM’s future in its youth, Oburu sent a subtle warning to veterans tempted to muzzle younger leaders in the name of discipline. It was also a tacit validation of Sifuna’s combative, outspoken style—one that resonates strongly with a younger, urban support base but often unsettles more cautious party strategists.
The closing rallying cry left little doubt about the message Oburu intended to project.
“Sisi ni chama cha mapinduzi. Tuko imara.” In invoking ODM’s revolutionary identity, he reminded both critics and supporters that internal turbulence is not new to the party—and that survival has often depended on its ability to absorb shocks without fracturing.
Whether this truce holds will depend on what follows behind the scenes.
But for now, Oburu’s intervention has bought ODM breathing space, cooling tempers and reasserting a narrative of unity at a moment when discord threatened to dominate the headlines.
