Kileleshwa Member of County Assembly (MCA) Robert Alai has ignited fresh political debate after accusing the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leadership of using Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as leverage against President William Samoei Ruto.

In a statement on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, Alai stated that ODM is using Sifuna to blackmail Ruto, a claim that has rattled both opposition and government supporters ahead of the 2027 campaigns.

The MCA suggested that political manoeuvres within ODM have shifted from internal party governance to strategic leverage in national politics.

“Kuna MCHEZO ODM leaders seem to be playing here, and it’s just not right,” Alai wrote on X.

According to Alai, ODM’s original purpose for the Special National Convention (SDC) was to remove Sifuna from his position as Secretary General.

However, he says, somewhere along the way, someone changed the National Delegates Conference (NDC) to Special NDC, and the removal of Sifuna was taken off the agenda.

Alai added that decisions by the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to remove Sifuna were dismissed by faceless strategists within the party.

“In fact, NEC’s resolutions removing Sifuna were rejected by those who seem to have made Sifuna their attack dog as they engage UDA,” Alai claimed.

“From what I can predict or gather from their behaviour, ODM is using Sifuna to blackmail President Ruto,” he wrote. “Sifuna and Babu, who have worked to destabilise ODM, seem to be the most favoured of all rebels.”

Unequal treatment of party mavericks?

Alai further criticised ODM’s handling of internal dissent, in what he called uneven disciplinary measures.

“Osotsi and Kibagendi were punished, but nobody has touched Sifuna and Babu. Someone is using the duo to claim that they are still helping manage or contain them until the 2027 campaigns start,” he argued.

The MCA pointed out that whoever crafted this strategy underestimated the political acumen of President Ruto.

“The schemers here think they are smart, but they will know that nobody is smarter than H.E. William Samoei Ruto,” Alai wrote.

Internal divisions in ODM

Alai’s comments come amid heightened tensions within ODM, which has been wrestling with internal factionalism since the death of the former premier, Raila Odinga.

In a separate interview on March 28, 2026, Raila Odinga’s legal advisor, lawyer Paul Mwangi, shed light on what he described as the late opposition leader’s broader strategic thinking.

Mwangi said that Raila had positioned Sifuna as part of an exit plan in his political partnership with President Ruto.

“When Raila started working with Ruto, he had an exit strategy, the people who were fighting his cooperation with Ruto, that is Sifuna’s side,” Mwangi revealed.

According to Mwangi, Raila maintained competing factions within ODM as a deliberate tactic to ensure he was never politically boxed in.

“The aim of having two factions while entering into a deal was that he was a good strategist; he would never allow you to box him in,” he explained.

However, since Raila’s death, those internal divisions appear to have intensified, with rival camps and competing visions for the party’s future.

While Siaya Senator Oburu Odinga has been ratified as the new ODM party leader and is tasked with negotiating with the ruling UDA, Sifuna has reportedly stated he cannot serve under the new leadership.