ODM factions exchange barbs ahead of planned Sifuna tour of Mombasa

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A political showdown is looming in Mombasa after rival ODM factions exchanged words over secretary general Edwin Sifuna's planned tour of the region.

The face-off between the Linda Ground and Linda Mwananchi factions has begun to play out ahead of the tour planned for the end of Ramadhan.

The Linda Mwananchi faction, led by Sifuna and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino alongside Siaya Governor James Orengo, has announced it will be in Mombasa at the end of Ramadhan.

However, a group of pro-Linda Ground youth on Thursday said the Sifuna-led group is not welcome in the coastal city, saying Mombasa is a peaceful county and will not allow that peace to be breached.

On Saturday, another group of political activists allied to Linda Mwananchi castigated those threatening the Sifuna camp.

Led by former Tudor MCA Tobias Samba, the Sisi ni Sifuna activists said Kenya is a democratic country where freedom of movement and association is guaranteed by the constitution.

They said they will welcome the brigade and provide security for them.

“We have decided that Mombasa will not be left behind in the liberation that is coming. We have had a small meeting of committee members to see how we will receive liberators Sifuna, Babu Owino, and Orengo,” Samba said.

The former ward representative is eying the Mvita parliamentary seat in the 2027 elections.

“We are ready to provide security like we have done in all our Linda Mwananchi rallies across the country. We will do everything that the law allows us to do to ensure the meeting is successful,” Samba said.

There is fear among those allied to Linda Mwananchi that there could be a plot to disrupt the Sifuna meeting in Mombasa.

But the political activists said they are not fazed by the planned disruption, saying they have had successful rallies across parts of the country even with the disruption plans.

“In Kakamega, they tried to do it. But we were way ahead of them because ours is a team of brilliant minds,” Samba said.

He said Sifuna and company are fighting for the right course.

“We want to liberate Kenya from the high taxes that we are being subjected to and the injustices that are happening without consequences in Kenya. This is going to be the last liberation,” he said.

The Mvita MP hopeful said they are picking from where late ODM party leader Raila Odinga left it.

“The spirit of Raila is in this team led by Babu Owino and Edwin Sifuna. We respect party leader Oburu Odinga, but we also have to tell them their time is up and they should step aside. We will be seeking advice from them, but they need to support us,” he said.

The activists said Sifuna and Babu Owino are capable of leading the Orange Party.

They said ODM is now a divided party, pitting those who want real change and those who want to cling onto power for their own selfish interests.

“Those who want to cling onto power can do so but not at the expense of what Raila created and fought for all his life,” Pius Makani, the speaker of Bunge la Wananchi, Mombasa County, said.

Makani said so long as Sifuna and Babu are still alive, Kenyans have a chance to be liberated from modern-day oppression.

“Team Sifuna are welcome in Mombasa. They are Kenyans who are free to step into any part of the country and free to associate with whoever they want because this is a democratic country,” Makani said.

Samba said, "If they want us to be in their team, let them incorporate Sifuna and Babu. But as long as they want to sideline them, then we don’t want that team. They can stay in their deputy party leader positions and one-term politics.”

He said they will mobilise and come up with ODM Fresh or ODM Asili as an alternative party if push comes to shove.

“Some people think they own Mombasa because they are in leadership positions given to them by the same mwananchi they now want to trample on. They forget they were born in Mombasa and found people living in Mombasa. And they will die and leave Mombasa with people still living here,” Samba said.

The activists called on security apparatus to remain neutral.

“Security should not be partisan. They should know that regimes change and they might find themselves in hot soup in the next regime,” Samba said.

The activists said they will not attend the ODM National Delegates Conference called for March 27.

“This March 27 NDC had been called by a fake secretary general. We will not heed to that call. We can only attend the NDC called by the genuine secretary general who we know is still Edwin Sifuna,” Samba said.