Migori Senator Eddy Oketch has dismissed criticism over the funding of the recent Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) rallies led by two different factions of the party.

Speaking on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, during an interview with a local TV station, Oketch said resources largely come from party supporters and grassroots contributions rather than the leaders themselves.

Oketch spoke amid growing scrutiny of two high-profile ODM events: the Linda Ground rallies, organised by party leader Oburu Oginga, and the Linda Mwananchi rallies, led by embattled party secretary general and Nairobi senator Edwin Sifuna’s faction.

“I have been with Sifuna, Caroli, and all the leaders you see there, time immemorial, that I have been with ODM. People facilitate themselves and give their little resources to events; I have seen that. I cannot crucify Sifuna or Oburu for the rallies they have organised,” Oketch said.

Linda Ground forums

Oketch’s remarks come weeks after Sifuna stated that the ODM “Linda Ground” meetings are not being bankrolled by the party’s accounts.

Speaking during an interview with a local TV station, the outspoken senator, who has recently been heavily critical of the party’s trajectory heading into 2027, stated that the Linda Ground forums are being financed from elsewhere.

He noted that, as the Secretary General and a signatory to ODM’s bank accounts, he has not signed off on any monies to be used for such functions.

Last funds from ODM accounts

He went ahead to state that the last funds released from the party’s accounts were used during the ODM 20th-anniversary celebrations at the coast.

He claimed those expenses cannot even be compared to what is being spent on the Linda Ground forums, which are aimed at gathering views from ODM delegates countrywide on whether the party should form a coalition with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

“‘I can state authoritatively here that the money and the resources you see being spent in those ODM rallies, the so-called Linda Ground forums, are not coming from ODM headquarters,” Sifuna stated.

“Where are they coming from? You will have to ask them. I can only account for the money that I sign for because I am a signatory to the bank accounts. Forget this rubbish you hear people saying; Timothy Bosire, the treasurer, and I are the signatories to the bank accounts. The last money we expended as ODM officially was for the ODM @20 celebrations in Mombasa, and it was a fraction of what we saw there.”