Orange Democratic Party Movement (ODM) Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna has refuted claims that his party leader Raila Odinga has a hand in the recent tribulations businessman Jimi Wanjigi is undergoing.

Speaking at an interview with Citizen TV, Sifuna said that there was no way Raila is the mastermind behind Wanjigi’s troubles noting that the tycoon is not a threat to the ODM boss.

“His claims are ridiculous. These people like to drag Raila Odinga’s name in everything so that they can get the media attention.

“As NEC members of ODM, we decide those people who become presidential candidates of the party. I can tell you in the NEC of 38 people, Jimi Wanjigi has probably managed to convince only one person to support his bid,” Sifuna said.

Sifuna further noted that it was wrong for people to assume that anytime a politician is arrested or called upon to answer certain charges by the authorities, the move is politically motivated.

“We have 10,000 life members of ODM and Wanjigi is one of them. I do not know any sought of fights or problems all these members get into.

“Not everything that happens in my life has anything to do with politics. If I engage in a fight today, how is Raila involved in that, how does politics come in, is it because I’m the SG of ODM?” He posed.

Sifuna’s statement comes after Wanjigi alleged that Raila was behind a police raid at his offices in Westlands in Nairobi as well as his eventual arrest. According to Wanjigi, the remarks he made about Raila while in Machakos over the weekend might have prompted his arrest.

“My utterances this weekend in Machakos could have been the cause of the siege. It is very clear that Raila Amollo Odinga who, I have known since 1991, is not the same that I’m seeing today,” Wanjigi told Spice FM.