Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has indicated that he is not ready to serve as secretary-general under what he termed ‘mediocrity’, implying that he is not willing to work with the current leadership of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party under Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga.

Sifuna, speaking at a public rally in Tononoka Grounds in Mombasa on Sunday, March 29, 2026, said that he could not work as the secretary-general of the party under Oburu Odinga, who could not be compared to the late Raila Odinga, the former head of the ODM party.

“Siwezi kuwa secretary general wa mediocrity. Mnajua mediocrity ni nini? Siwezi fanya kazi na Raila Odinga kwa zaidi ya miaka tisa alafu nifanye kazi na mtu kama Oburu,” Sifuna said.

Loosely translated as “I cannot be a secretary-general for mediocrity. I cannot work with someone like Raila Odinga for more than nine years and later work under somebody like Oburu Odinga.”

Sifuna said that the two scenarios are totally incomparable, and that is where he stressed that he does not approve of the kind of leadership and orientation of the party.

Sifuna makes those statements during a period when the ODM is going through tensions, with some groups who have been loyal to the legacy of Raila Odinga complaining of the direction being taken by the party under Oburu Odinga.

The Nairobi senator has been a crusader against actions he considers to destabilise the values and ideals that were championed by Raila Odinga in ODM.

His sentiments highlight that he is devoted to party values and will not jeopardise what he believes to be mediocrity. Sifuna has further reiterated that the aim of the Linda Mwananchi faction is to make sure that the current regime under William Ruto does not get a second term in the forthcoming general elections slated for 2027.

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