Blow to Sifuna as Tribunal Upholds ODM Decision to Remove Him as SG

A photo collage of ODM party leader Dr. Oburu Oginga and ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna. Photo/Courtesy

Edwin Sifuna’s bid to be reinstated as Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General has been struck out after the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) ruled it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.

The tribunal directed Sifuna, ODM, and other parties involved to resolve the dispute through the party’s internal alternative dispute resolution mechanism (ADRM) in good faith.

It also ruled that Sifuna’s removal should not be filed with the Registrar of Political Parties until the internal mechanism has concluded.

The Tribunal emphasized that its orders should not prevent ODM from conducting disciplinary proceedings, provided these follow the party constitution strictly.

The dispute stems from a February eleven, 2026, ODM National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Mombasa, which resolved to remove Sifuna, citing disciplinary concerns among senior party leaders.

The meeting, chaired by party leader Dr Oburu Oginga, installed Deputy Secretary General and Catherine Omanyo as acting Secretary General until a substantive officeholder is elected.

Sifuna challenged his removal at the PPDT the following day, initially securing interim orders halting attempts to oust him, including blocking the publication of the resolution in the Kenya Gazette.

ODM, through Makori & Karimi Advocates, argued that the complaint was premature, noting that Section 40(2) of the Political Parties Act bars the tribunal from hearing disputes that have not first been addressed through a party’s Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (IDRM).

The party maintained that Sifuna had neither invoked nor exhausted these internal processes, nor shown exceptional circumstances to justify bypassing them.

The tribunal’s ruling effectively strikes out Sifuna’s petition and protects the party’s right to manage internal governance, leaving his position as Secretary General in a temporary state of limbo until the internal dispute resolution is fully concluded.

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has welcomed a ruling by the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) that struck out a complaint filed by embattled Secretary General Edwin Sifuna and cleared the way for the party’s Special Delegates Conference (SDC) scheduled for Friday.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the party said the Tribunal dismissed Sifuna’s case for failing to exhaust internal dispute resolution mechanisms, affirming the primacy of party processes in handling internal disputes.

In a related case, the Tribunal also declined to suspend resolutions of the National Executive Committee (NEC) after a petition by journalist Vincent Chepkwony.

“In the Sen. Edwin Sifuna vs ODM case, the Tribunal struck out the complaint for failure to invoke the Party’s Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanism (IDRM), reaffirming that exhaustion of internal remedies is a mandatory precondition to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction and that it lacks authority to waive this requirement,” read the statement signed by Director of Communications Philip Etale.