Sifuna dropped from Senate Energy Committee in ODM power struggle
“I refuse to be the SG of mediocrity. I refuse to be the SG of Oburu Oginga. These characters do not deserve me,” Sifuna said earlier this year, calling for a proper National Delegates Conference to resolve leadership disputes.
Embattled ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna has been removed from the Senate Energy Committee, in a reshuffle that further exposes deepening divisions within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
The Nairobi Senator has been replaced by Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ in changes effected on Wednesday and announced in the Senate.
The Energy Committee is chaired by ODM leader and Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga, a development that had placed Sifuna in a politically sensitive position amid their ongoing internal party rivalry.
In the same reshuffle, Garissa Senator Abdul Haji replaced nominated Senator Beatrice Ogolla in the Energy Committee, while Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu was moved to the Senate Information, Communication and Technology Committee, also taking Ogolla’s place.
Ogolla was, in turn, moved to the Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Committee, replacing Kajwang’.
Unlike other affected senators, Sifuna was not reassigned to another committee, leaving him with membership in only two Senate committees — the Senate County Public Accounts Committee and the Senate National Security, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee.
The changes were announced by Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, who cited provisions of the Senate Standing Orders and recommendations from the Senate Business Committee.
“Notwithstanding the resolution of the Senate made on February 12, 2025, on the approval of senators to serve in various standing committees of the Senate and pursuant to Standing Orders 197, 199, 228 and the Fourth Schedule to the Standing Orders, the Senate has approved the following senators nominated by the Senate Business Committee to serve in various committees,” Cheruiyot said.
Sifuna’s removal from the Energy Committee comes amid an increasingly public fallout between him and Oburu Oginga over the direction of ODM, particularly on the party’s engagement with President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration.
The Nairobi Senator has previously stated that he was unwilling to serve under Oburu’s leadership within the Energy Committee, following Oburu’s elevation to party leader after Raila Odinga exited the position.
Sifuna, who has been one of the most vocal members of the Energy Committee, previously played a key role in scrutinising the controversial Adani Group proposal on the expansion of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a deal that was later terminated by the government.
The latest committee changes come against the backdrop of widening internal divisions within ODM, with factions increasingly split over the party’s relationship with the government.
Sifuna is associated with the party’s Linda Mwananchi faction, which has taken a more hardline opposition stance, while Oburu is linked to the Linda Ground camp, which has been viewed as more supportive of continued engagement with the Kenya Kwanza administration.
The differences between the two camps have played out publicly in recent months, including a heated exchange in which Sifuna criticized sections of the party leadership and questioned internal governance.
“I refuse to be the SG of mediocrity. I refuse to be the SG of Oburu Oginga. These characters do not deserve me,” Sifuna said earlier this year, calling for a proper National Delegates Conference to resolve leadership disputes.
