The political paths of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino are now set to diverge, with the two leaders pursuing separate electoral vehicles.
Sifuna is expected to unveil his own political party on October 1, while Babu has announced he will run for the governor seat on his Mwananchi Party.
Multiple sources within Linda Mwananchi confided to the Star on Sunday that the Nairobi senator has settled on Ukombozi Party.
“The issue of the party is behind us, we will make it public on October 1,” a source in the movement told the Star in confidence.
Ukombozi Party is the rebranded United Democratic Party, which belonged to politician Cyrus Jirongo (deceased).
The Star has also established the unveiling ceremony will be staged in Nairobi.
The development now confirms that Sifuna and Babu are unlikely to contest the 2027 election on the same party ticket.
Yet Babu insists the separation of their parties does not have to translate into a political divorce and is quick to propose a coalition between his Mwananchi Party and Sifuna’s Ukombozi People’s Party under the Linda Mwananchi umbrella.
“We will start with a coalition within Linda Mwananchi, Sifuna will be the party leader of Ukombozi Party and Babu will be the party leader of the Mwananchi Party,” Babu said during a funeral in Nyakach, Kisumu county, on Saturday.
He further proposed that the Linda Mwananchi coalition should negotiate collectively with the wider opposition formation associated with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
“Then we will have a coalition which we will reach out to other opposition leaders and make a bigger coalition. We shall look for Kalonzo, Gachagua, Fred Matiang’i and all other opposition leaders.”
Speaking to the Star, Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi confirmed plans to unveil Sifuna’s party in two weeks’ time.
Senator Osotsi, however, declined to confirm the political vehicle Sifuna will be vying on, saying, ‘people should stop speaking for Sifuna’.
“In two weeks’ time, Sifuna’s party will be known. People should stop speaking for Sifuna,” Osotsi told the Star on the phone.
The Sifuna-Babu divergence will complicate their engagements as they are likely to field different candidates for the same positions, especially in Nairobi, even if they remain in one team.
Babu has said he wants his own MCAs in Nairobi.
Babu says his party was already available way before the formation of Linda Mwananchi.
He has argued that an earlier process to identify an electoral vehicle had narrowed down to his outfit after Saboti MP Caleb Amisi left the arrangement, only for Ukombozi to subsequently emerge as another option.
Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya, said to be behind the Ukombozi Party, has further complicated the matter.
Natembeya has maintained that Sifuna will use Ukombozi, a position that directly clashes with Babu’s preference for his Mwananchi Party.
The governor’s stance has emerged as one of the obstacles to efforts to reconcile the two camps, with Babu unwilling to abandon his party and Natembeya continuing to push Ukombozi as Sifuna’s vehicle.
Babu is considered a key mobiliser for Linda Mwananchi.
Last week, he announced he will reduce his participation in some of the movement’s national activities to concentrate on his gubernatorial campaign.
He has nevertheless maintained he will continue supporting Sifuna’s presidential bid.
Speaking in Nyakach on Saturday, Babu reiterated his support for the Nairobi senator, saying they share a history with Sifuna dating back to their days in the ODM Party.
“Sifuna is my brother, I cannot abandon him because we started together. I will stand in solidarity with him,” Babu said.
“We started when he was to being expelled from the party, it then moved from expulsion and now he is going to be the President of Kenya. We shall support Sifuna to go up there as presidential candidate.”
Amid the wrangling, attempts have been made to prevent the disagreements from developing into an outright split.
INSTANT ANALYSIS
Babu insists the separation of their parties does not have to translate into a political divorce and is quick to propose a coalition between his Mwananchi Party and Sifuna’s Ukombozi People’s Party under the Linda Mwananchi umbrella.
