Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna/ HANDOUT
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A chaotic night parliamentary group meeting marked by shouting, chaos and a near-fistfight preceded the removal of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as the Senate Deputy Minority Whip.
The turmoil culminated on Thursday when Senate Speaker Amason Kingi formally announced Sifuna's removal and named Migori Senator Eddy Oketch as the new Deputy Minority Whip.
"I have verified the correspondence received and hereby communicate that the minority party has effected a change in the Office of the Deputy Senate Minority Whip,” Kingi said.
“The new office holder, with immediate effect, is Sen Eddy Gicheru Oketch, MP," Kingi announced as senators allied to the broad-based government coalition thumped their feet in approval.
Kingi said his office had received the minutes of the minority parliamentary group meeting, together with a list of senators supporting the leadership changes.
The Speaker's communication came despite a protest letter from the Azimio coalition urging him not to effect the changes until an internal dispute was resolved.
"We hereby request your office to desist from acting upon any purported resolution of the Senate Minority Parliamentary Group pending the determination of the dispute by the coalition's dispute resolution panel," Azimio executive director Philip Kisia wrote.
Despite losing one of the most influential positions available to the opposition in the Senate, Sifuna remained defiant.
"We will continue speaking about these things even if they punish us. They are now taking away that which was given to me by my late father," he said shortly after the announcement.
Referring to his continued opposition to President William Ruto's administration, Sifuna added; "We have a software problem in this country and we must fix it. Jesus said that if someone takes your coat, give him your shirt too."
He congratulated his successor but maintained his political resolve.
"I thank the leadership and members of the minority side for the support they have given me. I congratulate my younger brother Eddy Oketch. It is now his responsibility to whip members and ensure we raise quorum."
Sifuna's removal is the latest blow against the Nairobi senator, who has steadily fallen out with the ODM leadership after opposing the party's cooperation with President Ruto.
Barely three weeks ago, he was removed from the powerful Senate Energy Committee, chaired by ODM leader and Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga.
Earlier, he had also been replaced as the party's secretary general.
The senator has since emerged as the face of the Linda Mwananchi movement, a faction opposed to ODM's partnership with the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The group has attracted members from several opposition parties and has positioned itself as the voice of those resisting the broad-based arrangement.
Sifuna has also declared plans to launch a new political party amid growing calls from supporters to contest the presidency in the 2027 General Election.
However, it was Wednesday night's meeting at Parliament Buildings that laid bare the intensity of the political battle.
The meeting, convened by Senate Minority Whip Ledama Olekina, began shortly after 8 pm and stretched for nearly two hours.
"Dear Senators, I wish to inform you and invite you to our PG at 7.30 pm today at my office in the Senate. The party leader will join us too. Please keep time," Olekina said in a notice sent to senators.
According to senators who attended, the meeting was jointly chaired by Olekina and Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo.
The agenda, senators said, was disclosed only after members had assembled—to remove Sifuna from his leadership position.
The omission of the agenda from the invitation immediately raised suspicion among senators allied to Linda Mwananchi and the united opposition faction, led by Kitui Senator Enock Wambua.
Sifuna attended the meeting.
Before substantive discussions could begin, the meeting became bogged down in procedural objections.
Several senators reportedly questioned why such an important meeting had been called late in the evening and why members had not been informed of the agenda in advance.
Others demanded to know why the matter was being treated as urgent.
The objections quickly escalated into heated exchanges.
"These questions did not go down well because they wanted to push through the agenda. They became bullish," Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi said.
The meeting came only hours after a group of ODM senators and party leaders held closed-door meeting with President William Ruto at State House.
Among those present were Oburu, Olekina, Madzayo, Tom Ojienda (Kisumu), Eddy Oketch (Migori), Hamida Kibwana (Nominated), Betty Montet (Nominated), Johnes Mwaruma (Taita Taveta), Mohamed Faki (Mombasa), Issa Juma Boy (Kwale) and Moses Kajwang' (Homa Bay).
"After the open meeting at State House, the leadership retreated for another meeting with the President," one senator who attended the sessions said.
Sources said the parliamentary group meeting had initially been planned as an ODM affair before it was expanded to include all Azimio senators.
According to senators present, Olekina then invited members to append their signatures on a list to remove Sifuna.
Several senators signed amid loud protests as the atmosphere grew increasingly hostile.
Sifuna demanded to inspect the list to establish how many senators had endorsed his removal.
It was at that moment that the meeting descended into chaos.
According to multiple senators, one lawmaker supporting Sifuna's removal jumped onto the table and attempted to strike the Nairobi senator.
Another senator standing beside Sifuna blocked the blow before it landed.
As tempers flared, another legislator grabbed the signature sheet and tore it into pieces, plunging the meeting into confusion.
By then, only 10 of the 21 senators present had signed the document.
"Essentially, the conclusion by that time was that those who signed had not marshalled the numbers," Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka said.
Azimio has 31 senators in the House, meaning at least 16 signatures would ordinarily be required to command majority support for such a decision.
Nominated Senator Crystal Asige said she refused to support the move.
"I declined to be part of Sifuna's removal as Deputy Whip. I weep for what was left to us by Raila—arguably the greatest people-centred party in the last 20 years. To see it become a cesspit of intolerance and high-handedness is astonishing," she said.
"But the more you silence a voice, the more you amplify its echo."
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah accused senators supporting President Ruto of abandoning the opposition's role.
"Anybody who is sympathetic to William Ruto should vacate their seats and join the government. They should join the Majority because they do not deserve to sit in the Minority," Omtatah said.
"It is not Sifuna who should vacate his position. It should be them, beginning with the Minority leadership. We thwarted the plan because the meeting did not reach a valid conclusion. What they wanted was to announce that Sifuna had been ousted, but that did not happen."
Even so, by Thursday afternoon, the political tide had shifted.
Armed with fresh documentation, the Senate leadership proceeded with the changes, handing President Ruto's allies another victory in the battle for control of the opposition.
