Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna’s political fortunes have continued to rise even as his relationship with the Orange Democratic Movement deteriorates.
A series of disciplinary actions and public confrontations by ODM appear to have transformed Sifuna from a party official into one of the most prominent faces of the opposition.
What was intended by ODM as a punishment to diminish his stature for his opposition to the party’s cooperation with the President William Ruto has instead lionised the Nairobi senator.
The rebellion against ODM has birthed the Linda Mwananchi movement and positioned Sifuna as a significant voice of resistance against the government.
The senator has turned his removal from the position of ODM secretary general into one of the central themes of his political rallies.
The party may have taken away his official title, he usually says, but ordinary Kenyans have given him a more powerful one.
“They took away the SG title from me. However, people want me to have another title, HE. Is that what you people also want?” Sifuna always says.
HE is the short form of His Excellency, a honorific usually reserved for heads of state.
The message has become a recurring feature of his Linda Mwananchi rallies, allowing Sifuna to portray his removal not as a political defeat but as evidence that the party establishment had become uncomfortable with his stand against government cooperation.
His removal as secretary general was formally recognised on July 9, when the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties approved the changes to ODM’s records and replaced him with Catherine Omanyo in an acting capacity.
The process had begun months earlier, when ODM’s National Executive Committee targeted Sifuna over alleged gross misconduct and his opposition to the party’s cooperation with the Kenya Kwanza administration.
An earlier attempt to remove him was nullified by the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal on procedural grounds, including concerns over whether he had been accorded a fair hearing. The party subsequently pursued a fresh disciplinary process.
Instead of ending Sifuna’s political influence, the public drama surrounding his removal gave him an opportunity to present himself as a victim of an establishment determined to silence dissent.
ODM then compounded the situation by removing him as Senate Deputy Minority Whip.
Speaker Amason Kingi communicated the decision to the Senate after the minority party resolved on July 15 to remove Sifuna through a majority vote under Standing Order 23(4). Migori Senator Eddy Oketch was subsequently named his replacement.
Sifuna accepted the decision and thanked the minority leadership for the support he had received during his tenure, but the move further reinforced his narrative that the party was systematically stripping him of positions because of his political views.
The repeated removals have provided Sifuna with what political strategists would regard as valuable campaign material.
Every disciplinary action has given him another opportunity to speak directly to voters without the constraints of party structures.
His critics within ODM may have hoped to isolate him, but the opposite appears to have happened.
Sifuna has increasingly built his political identity around opposition to the broad-based arrangement between ODM and President William Ruto’s administration.
His position has won him support among Kenyans who believe ODM should remain firmly in the opposition.
The attacks directed at him during political rallies have also strengthened that image.
ODM has faced criticism for failing to strongly condemn some of the violence and hostility directed at Sifuna and his allies during their political activities.
Rather than weakening him, the attacks have allowed Sifuna and his supporters to frame Linda Mwananchi as a movement that is being targeted because it has challenged powerful political interests.
The violent disruption of the Linda Mwananchi rally in Homa Bay has become particularly significant in this regard.
Political analyst Fred Sasia has argued that the violence could produce the opposite of the intended effect by strengthening the movement’s resolve.
Political commentator Joseph Mutua says the attacks could allow Sifuna to portray himself as a leader prepared to take his message into areas considered politically difficult for the opposition.
The “we will not be intimidated” message has already taken root within the movement.
Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya has vowed that the Linda Mwananchi team will return to Homa Bay despite the violence.
“We will go back to Homa Bay, because if we do not do that, there are some people who will think that is their fortress, where they can unleash violence to people who are on their side,” Natembeya said.
“We will go back there and hold rallies,” he added.
The growing political visibility has coincided with an increase in Sifuna’s reported popularity in opinion polls.
Tracking data cited from Tifa and Infotrak indicates that Sifuna moved from virtually no measurable support as a presidential contender late last year to 10 per cent by May 2026.
A July Infotrak poll reportedly placed him at 12 per cent, while a subsequent Tifa survey put his support at 15 per cent, ahead of Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and level with former Interior CS Fred Matiang’i.
The numbers, if sustained, represent a remarkable rise for a politician who had not been viewed as a serious presidential contender at the beginning of the year.
Suba South MP Caroli Omondi has gone as far as predicting that ODM could suffer significant losses in the 2027 elections as Linda Mwananchi expands.
“I don’t see any future for ODM. In Nairobi, ODM will not win any seats; all its seats will go to Linda Mwananchi,” he said.
“There is no ODM in Western, Kisii or Maasai land. We will take the seats in Wajir. In Nyanza, a few people may survive, but the majority will be with Linda Mwananchi.”
For ODM, the challenge is now bigger than Sifuna’s removal from party office.
But for now, the political irony is difficult to ignore — ODM’s attempts to cut Sifuna down appear to have helped elevate him.
