Sifuna hires top lawyers for battle over his seat in ODM

Embattled ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna has hired a team of top lawyers to arbitrate what he terms his unlawful removal from the influential party position.

The Nairobi senator is preparing for a bruising internal contest following directions by the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal that the matter be resolved through the party’s Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanism.

Sifuna, himself a lawyer, has enlisted seasoned legal experts to bolster his case, signalling the high stakes involved in the dispute.

The lawmaker has hired renowned senior counsels John Ohaga, Jane Onyango and Zehrabam Janmohamed to argue his case with the ODM party.

In a letter dated April 1, Sifuna insists his alleged ouster is illegal and should be reversed.

Sifuna wrote to ODM through his advocate and former Law Society of Kenya president Isaac Okero.

“By a resolution of the party’s National Executive Committee on February 11, the party purported, unlawfully and irregularly, to remove our client as secretary general of the Orange Democratic Movement party,” the letter states.

“Our client is aggrieved by that decision and hereby declares a dispute under Article 88 of the ODM Constitution.”

Sifuna had moved to the tribunal to challenge his removal as ODM secretary general, arguing that the decision was unlawful and violated the party constitution and the Political Parties Act.

In his argument, Sifuna maintains that due process was not followed in his removal, insisting that the decision violated both the party constitution and broader legal frameworks governing political parties.

The dispute tribunal directed the senator and ODM to engage the party’s internal mechanisms in good faith before the matter can proceed further before the tribunal.

It further directed that, as a show of good faith, the removal of Sifuna as secretary general should not be filed with the Registrar of Political Parties pending the attempt at internal dispute resolution.

The directive now sets the stage for a potentially contentious process in ODM.

On Thursday, ODM head of legal department Tony Moturi confirmed the party has received the Sifuna’s letter requesting for arbitration.

He said the party is consulting internally and will give the way forward on its internal dispute mechanism choice.

“I saw the letter. The party has not responded to him. The party will proceed to its processes,” Moturi told the Star on the phone.

The ODM legal head also faulted Sifuna for trying to dictate to the party on the route for internal dispute resolution, arguing that the Linda Mwanainchi leader is jumping the gun by suggesting arbitration.

“If the tribunal directed to proceed with our Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanism, it is not the aggrieved party to indicate the process, it is the party to initiate that process according to the law,” Moturi said on phone.

“Internal mechanisms are many and you cannot choose the one you want. Arbitration only kicks in when the internal process fails. Why are they jumping the gun?”

“We are not constrained to go the route they are suggesting; we have our own interpretation.”

ODM deputy national chairman Otiende Amollo also weighed in on the matter, saying that it is only the National Executive Committee that has the mandate on the route the party will take on the matter.

“As a political party, and as reiterated in our SDC, we respect the rule of the law, which is why the third resolution that was passed was that the convention took note of the decision of the PPDT, and we will abide as necessary,” the Rarieda MP told the Star.

“How that resolution mechanism will proceed is a function of the party constitution and the disciplinary committee.”

Otiende said NEC, in its wisdom, can among other options subject the Sifuna matter to the disciplinary committee chaired by former Siaya Governor Cornell Rasanga.

“The executive director would bring to the attention of the party leadership and the NEC such a letter and such a proposal, and the NEC will deliberate and make an appropriate decision,” he said on the phone.

“If everything is regular, the NEC will probably refer that letter to the disciplinary committee, but that will depend on the deliberation of the NEC, which for now I cannot anticipate.”