Sifuna says ODM leadership turned its back on Odinga family — Nation Kenya

In Nairobi, Kenya, Senator Edwin Sifuna said that the leadership of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party is treating the family of the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga unfairly. As Nation Kenya reports, the politician said that a year after Odinga's death, the party leadership had turned its back on his family.

Sifuna's statements

During a church service in Nairobi, Sifuna, who also leads the Linda Mwananchi movement, said that senior ODM officials had focused on supporting President William Ruto's re-election for a second term rather than on the family of the politician who, he said, helped them gain recognition.

Sifuna also claimed that some ODM figures who had been close to Odinga during his lifetime did not take part in commemorating his memory. He said that his team would defend the Odinga family and the political ideas advocated by the late politician.

Controversy surrounding the memorial

Linda Mwananchi representatives said that the disruption of an event marking the first anniversary of Odinga's death in Bondo was allegedly organized by local leaders dissatisfied with the invitation of movement members. This claim is presented as the position of Linda Mwananchi representatives.

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Last week, Raila Odinga's widow Ida Odinga criticized politicians for turning the memorial event into a contest for political supremacy. She also defended the family's right to invite politicians from different political forces. According to her, the commemoration was accompanied by shouting, booing and intimidation of certain invited guests.

Criticism of the authorities and electoral plans

During the same service, Sifuna, who has expressed interest in running in the 2027 presidential election, criticized the Kenya Kwanza government. He accused Ruto's administration of betraying Kenyans and said there was a need to change the country's leadership. Movement members also pledged to unite in a single coalition to take part in the next election.

Embakasi East Member of Parliament Babu Owino separately said that the current authorities were inactive amid corruption in the Nairobi administration led by Governor Johnson Sakaja. He promised that if elected governor of Nairobi, he would repair roads, make education payments for schoolchildren free, clean the city and create jobs for young people.