From Sifuna's removal to mass exodus: Inside Ruto's hand in ODM capture

President William Ruto's hand in the unfolding sequence of explosive events in the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party, including the ouster of Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna, has been openly evident.

They include driving the ODM agenda, including planning and funding meetings without consultation with party organs and some leaders.

Senior leaders have complained about him dishing out loads of money to fund party meetings and also as handouts to a faction that has declared support for his re-election.

The latest development is said to have happened on Monday night, when party leader Oburu Oginga and chairperson Gladys Wanga met Ruto at State House to plan for the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to kick out Sifuna.

Deputy Party Leader Godfrey Osotsi yesterday narrated how Oburu met him and ODM chairperson Gladys Wanga at Treasurer Timothy Bosire's house in Nairobi to discuss the NEC meeting, which they agreed should have been moved to a later date.

"Oburu told us he needed to consult further, which did not happen. He went ahead to consult Ruto at State House that night, where they agreed to proceed with the NEC meeting," said Osotsi.

Apart from the NEC meeting, it was agreed that a meeting of all 3,000 Coast delegates be convened immediately after the NEC to endorse the resolutions. These were to be followed by a series of rallies across the country to whip up public support.

Each delegate was paid Sh5,000. The Sh15,000,000, sources in the party say, was not drawn from ODM coffers and may instead have come from elsewhere.

According to Osotsi, last Friday Wanga contacted him and handed the phone to Oburu, who requested an urgent meeting. On Monday, a gathering took place at the home of Bosire.

Present were Sifuna, Oburu, National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed and party trustee Amos Wako.

“We agreed that the meeting of NEC that had been scheduled for Mombasa be delayed, be postponed until we get consensus in the party,” Osotsi said. A team of elders, including Wako, Orengo and Anyang’ Nyong’o, was tasked with mediating internal disputes.

Osotsi and another senior official skipped the Mombasa meeting, awaiting word on whether the earlier agreement would hold. It did not. The NEC was convened and Sifuna was removed.

Only last week, Sifuna had questioned the source of large amounts of money being used to mobilise ODM meetings dubbed Linda Ground Movement, being organised by Wanga and her allies.

"The money you see being thrown around in ODM rallies is not coming from ODM headquarters. There is parallel funding for activities clothed in ODM colours," Sifuna said.

He said the last money the party expended was during the ODM twentieth anniversary celebrations and even that was only a fraction of what was used at the meeting that was also attended by President Ruto in Mombasa.

Kisumu Woman Representative Ruth Odinga has also raised burning questions about the funding of recent ODM public meetings and warned against what she termed attempts to silence dissent within the party.

“Are governors funding the campaigns? Are MPs using CDF resources? Or is there a philanthropist funding expensive political mobilisation without the knowledge of the party secretary-general?” she asked.

“And if such a philanthropist exists, what is in it for them?” she said.

According to communication consultant Barrack Muluka, there is a strong likelihood that external political influence, what many are calling a hidden hand, is playing a role in the current woes within ODM.

“Some analysts believe these developments are not accidental but politically orchestrated. Senator Sifuna himself raised concerns about funding behind certain activities associated with Oburu Odinga’s side of the party, and that adds weight to the suspicion that outside forces may be shaping internal outcomes,” says Muluka.

He believes that the party’s internal conflicts are strengthening UDA and ultimately reducing ODM’s negotiation claims with the party.

“As ODM’s internal conflicts continue, its strength in negotiations with UDA is steadily diminishing. Its bargaining power is directly tied to its unity, structures and clarity of purpose, all of which are currently under strain,” he adds.

According to multiple senior party officials who spoke to The Standard, what happened at the NEC was the culmination of a strategy planned from State House to bring the country’s most formidable opposition party under presidential control.

Osotsi did not mince words: “I raised an alarm that ODM was being remote-controlled from State House,” Osotsi said.

Winnie Odinga, in a post on her social media pages, faulted the NEC decision and pointed out that those leading the onslaught on dissenters were never on the frontlines defending the people:

"This fight in ODM is not about individual leaders, it is about the soul, virtues and values of ODM.

I’ve said this over and over again, ODM is not an SPV. So when we ask the question ‘where were they?’, it is not political, it’s not a personal jab, it is definitive.

If you didn’t put your life on the line for the people when they risked their own lives, then you are not fit to speak on behalf of the people of ODM because you simply don’t understand their sacrifice.

That sacrifice is a qualifier for leadership of this party."

Yesterday, Siaya Governor James Orengo, who accompanied Sifuna to the presser, also accused the President of effectively seizing control of the opposition party: “The problem in ODM is President Ruto. We are asking Ruto to let ODM go. Leave ODM alone. He has not taken it hostage; he is in possession of the ODM party. He is convening meetings of ODM organs.”

Ruto's grip on ODM began long before Raila Odinga’s death.

The seduction of ODM started after Ruto assumed office, following the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) talks between Raila and Ruto’s UDA.

Then came Raila’s bid for the African Union Commission chairperson seat. President Ruto campaigned vigorously for Raila, deploying the full machinery of government and diplomatic channels to secure votes from across the continent. Government resources were availed, presidential aircraft utilised and State department officials seconded to the campaign.

The AU bid failed. Immediately after that, President Ruto and Odinga formed the “broad-based government”.

The fruits of this arrangement became visible when key ODM figures were appointed to serve in Ruto’s Cabinet. John Mbadi, the former ODM national chairperson, was appointed Treasury Cabinet Secretary. Other ODM politicians followed.

When Raila died in India on October 15, 2025, ODM almost immediately started disintegrating. As a team went to pick Odinga’s body, other party officials stayed behind and hatched a plot to install Oburu as party leader.

Oburu was installed as party leader but, unlike Raila, who maintained independence through decades of incarceration, exile and ultimately handshakes, Oburu, as Osotsi says, is susceptible to President Ruto’s influence.

Within weeks, President Ruto nominated Ida Odinga, Raila’s widow, as Kenya’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The nomination, transmitted to Parliament in January 2026, was framed as recognition of her decades of public service and advocacy for women’s empowerment, although lawyer Njeru Ndwiga urged Ida to reject the appointment, saying it can be interpreted as placement of Raila’s immediate family within the patronage umbrella of Ruto.

The celebration of Sifuna’s ouster came from a man who now sits in the Cabinet.

John Mbadi, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary and former ODM national chairperson, said, “I am very excited...I have been so depressed seeing what he was doing for ODM. If you are claiming to respect Raila and you want to destroy his party months after his death, it is not fair to his legacy, I am very excited,” says Mbadi.

At yesterday's presser, Sifuna was flanked by EALA MP Winnie Odinga, Caleb Amisi, Osotsi and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino, among others.

“My only crime is that I oppose any plans and schemes within the party to support President William Ruto’s re-election,” the ousted Secretary-General said.

Sifuna’s backyard is Bungoma, Amisi hails from Trans Nzoia and Osotsi from Vihiga, meaning their removal threatens to destabilise the party’s grassroots base in the region.

ODM Vihiga branch chairperson Zebedee Osabwa warned that touching these leaders risks alienating supporters.

“ODM is in Western Kenya because of our leaders, and when you touch them, you risk losing the support,” said Osabwa.

Reports indicate that many loyalists have begun deregistering from the party or threatening to walk out, citing frustration over the treatment of Sifuna, Osotsi and Amisi.

Additional reporting by Harold Odhiambo