Doubts surface over Sifuna’s influence ahead of his day in the sun

The much touted political influence of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has come under sharp focus as he braces to be crowned as his party’s presidential candidate.

Sifuna heads the Linda Mwananchi Movement (LMM) party, an outfit that was rebranded from The Equitable Party (TEP) only three weeks ago.

LMM will hold its national delegates convention (NDC) on Friday, November 13, at which function it is expected that he will officially be unveiled as the party’s presidential flag-bearer in the 2027 General-Election.

However, even as Sifuna and LMM prepare for the senator’s day in the sun, queries have emerged regarding the exact influence of the former Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) secretary-general outside the social media.

Immediate former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who has fashioned himself as the de facto ‘head prefect’ of the Kenyan Opposition ensemble, recently told Sifuna to his face to go back to his native Western Kenya backyard and rally the electorate there behind him, stating that: “I can see the likes of (Kimilili MP) Didmus Barasa (who is running for Bungoma governorship) attracting huge crowds at rallies. Go and put your house in order first “

Until then, Sifuna had been marketed on social media as the most popular Opposition leader whom the rest of the political actors opposed to the ruling Kenya Kwanza regime should rally behind as the sole presidential candidate against incumbent William Ruto in next year’s State House race.

Gachagua’s assignment to Sifuna has triggered the hitherto undiscussed queries regarding the real influence of the former Senate Deputy Chief Whip.

Sifuna catapulted himself onto the national stage in October last year soon after the death of his then party leader Raila Odinga.

He has been a darling of the young Kenyans, popularly known as Gen-Zs who form the larger portion of the bloggers aggressively marketing him through social media.

Following Raila’s departure, his ODM party appointed his older brother and Siaya Senator Dr. Oburu Oginga to replace him in an acting capacity.

Then ODM secretary-general Sifuna came out to strongly oppose Oburu’s elevation, terming his leadership as “mediocrity..”

His militant stance saw him attract massive support from the ranks of other Opposition parties, especially Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party, Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Democratic Front (WDF) and Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP).

Politicians from the three political parties started to accompany Sifuna in his whirlwind tours of the country, castigating President William Ruto’s government and its leadership.

Sifuna specifically made it his priority to throw jibes at Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, a pet topic the senator still relishes in it to date.

However, it has now emerged that only three out of the 39 Members of Parliament from Sifuna’s Luhyia community have joined his LMM.

They are Westlands MP Tim Wanyonyi, Bumula MP Jack Wamboka and Kabuchai lawmaker Majimbo Kalasinga.

From the entire ODM, his former party Sifuna has, out of the elected 97 Members of Parliament, only been able to attract Tim Wanyonyi, Kitutu Chache MP Richard Onyonka and his Suba South counterpart Caroli Omondi and Embakasi East’s Babu Owino who, however, has his own political party.

In his own Nairobi County where ODM has 10 out of 18 elected Members of Parliament, Sifuna has managed to sway only one to his side, Tim Wanyonyi.

The event witnessed Sifuna’s supporters heckling Kalonzo Musyoka who was one of the invited guests.

Kisii MPs Antony Kibagendi and Clive Gisairo, who are from ODM and have been cavorting around Sifuna have since redirected their allegiance to former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i who is currently head of the Jubilee Party where he hopes to run for Presidency under the United Opposition umbrella.

Sifuna’s initial allies have started thinning away. On the day LMM was rebranded from TEP, there was a notable absence of lawmakers from Sifuna’s Luhyia community and other political actors who had been regular faces in his countrywide public rallies.

Present were Kakamega Senator Dr. Boni Khalwale, his Vihiga counterpart Godfrey Osotsi, Wanyonyi, Kalasinga and Wamboka. Apart from Khalwale, the others are from Sifuna’s Bukusu sub-tribe.

Veteran lawyer and Siaya Governor James Orengo who has for over a year been Sifuna’s comrade-in-arms in public events has since drifted away from Sifuna, formed his own party and declared that he too will run for President.

Two MPs from Kalonzo’s WDF, Kaiti’s Joshua Kimilu and his Wundanyi counterpart Danson Mwashako, have been recalled to their party’s fold by the former Vice-President.

Sifuna has now been left to fight the tag of a Trojan horse of known political elites in the Mt. Kenya region, a Bukusu supremacist and political greenhorn whose influence does not spread beyond the frontiers of Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia counties.

For months, it has been claimed that Sifuna is a project of former President Uhuru Kenyatta. At the moment, he is now linked to Gachagua.

Three weeks ago, Sifuna led a team of lawmakers allied to Linda Mwananchi to pledge loyalty to Gachagua at his Wamunyoro rural home in Nyeri county.

His recent moves have courted persistent scrutiny from the political class around the country.

Last week, Sifuna was a subject of heated discussion in Western Kenya where leaders from the ruling Kenya Kwanza dismissed him as a hired mercenary of certain power brokers from the Mt. Kenya region.

At three different functions on Saturday, Mudavadi wondered why former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is said to be Sifuna’s sponsor, did invited him in his Jubilee Party to view for the Presidency if he indeed valued him, instead of handing it to Matiang’i.

READ ALSO: Mudavadi writes off Uhuru experiment on Sifuna in his western turf

“Can’t we all see it? Someone is being deluded that they can be made President. Far from it. Why couldn’t Uhuru give Sifuna his party if he was serious about him? We all saw him hand that party to someone else. Can’t that tell you something,?” Mudavadi posed..

Last month, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru tore into Sifuna, terming him as a non-starter in next year’s presidential contest.

Waiguru told a Citizen TV Sunday Live programme that the Nairobi senator is an inexperienced contender who stands no chance in the gruelling State House race.

Waiguru said Sifuna is unprepared, lacks capacity and resources to stage a formidable challenge to incumbent Ruto.

On Sunday, Busia Governor Paul Otuoma waded into the conversation, describing Sifuna as no threat to the Kenya Kwanza settings in Western region.

Otuoma said the fact that one is young does not guarantee quality leadership .
He termed it as a mirage claims that the majority of the youths in the region sided with Sifuna in politics.

“There is nothing special in being young. We have all at one stage or another in our lives. Performance has nothing to do with age. Let people table their credentials so that they can be compared alongside others,” Otuoma said.

Speaking at his rural residence during a joint media engagement alongside Mudavadi, Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka and his Kakamega counterpart Fernandes Barasa, on Sunday Otuoma dismissed Sifuna as a spoiler, saying that he had all been with the Nairobi Senator in ODM and knows what he is capable of.

“There is nothing there to shake us. We know these people. We know what they are capable of,” said Otuoma.

READ ALSO: Opposition should not be our hobby, Mudavadi, Lusaka warn western region

Elsewhere, speaking on Saturday at a fundraiser in Shitoti, Mumias Sub-County in Kakamega county, area Deputy Governor Ayub Savula stated that Sifuna was a mere pawn of the Mt. Kenya political honchos led by Uhuru.

He, like Mudavadi, wondered why Uhuru could not invite Sifuna in Jubilee Party instead of sponsoring from outside.

“Western is intact. We shall not accept to be guided by people sent by their masters from My. Kenya to divide us. They have no space here,” declared Savula.

After being given a nod of Friday to run for Presidency, the former ODM spokesman is slated to travel to the United States on November 22 for a 20-day tour.

That will only be the beginning of an extremely Herculean task for the LMM leader who should have realised by now that it takes a much sterner stuff to run for Presidency and not merely sloganeering on public platforms and the floor of Parliament.

No doubt, the work ahead for the Nairobi senator is voluminous indeed. It remains to be seen whether he will hack it. Time will tell.