In the 2022 polls, the ODM party won many seats in northern Kenya and won presidential votes higher than it had performed in 2017.
The Somalis voted ODM. We have counties like Wajir headed by ODM elected governors, a man who lost his election in 2017 because of sticking with ODM.
I was still working at Orange House and remember Governor Ahmed Abdulahi coming in with Hon. Junet Mohamed to pick his certificate. He went ahead to lose the election. He was terribly rigged out. He would rise again in 2022, ODM having outlived Jubilee in northern Kenya.
In the same election, ODM lost badly in Sifuna’s Bukusu homeground. ODM was defeated everywhere where the Bukusu — Sifuna’s ethnic group — are majority voters.
It means Sifuna’s 8 years as SG of ODM has added no value to the party not only in western but among his own Bukusu group.
Luhya leaders who joined ODM from Jubilee ahead of 2022 came mostly through Junet’s persuasion. It is Junet who kept nudging them to join ODM. Most of these leaders were MPs, the likes of Hon. Wangwe, Hon. Tindi Mwale etc. Hon. Junet did the same to Tana River leaders who abandoned Wiper.
The contribution of Hon. Junet Mohamed in growing ODM cannot be gainsaid. Governor Joho spoke to this. It is Junet who whips the entire ODM.
When an opportunity came to join government substantively in post-2024 it was Junet Mohamed who had to do the heavy lifting to convince perennial skeptics in the party that ODM had a better future joining government than joining the leaderless, partyless and so called ‘tribeless’ Gen Z movement which had neither head nor tail.
On the other hand, Sifuna was among ODM leaders sucking up to Gen Z minions, reducing a party with a leader to negotiate with a ragtag militia full of excited kids. We rejected this proposition outright. We were right.
Sifuna claims he never needed to be bribed to vote Gachagua out. This is true. Many MPs voted out Gachagua out because of Gachagua s toxic, primitive tribalism (which has not stopped).
What Sifuna does not say is that just because he did not need to be paid to vote Gachagua out does not mean he did not accept a ‘token of appreciation’ for doing so. He did receive the ‘patriotism allowance’ to remove Gachagua!
It is a fact that Uhuru gave Ruto power. Uhuru had not intended to give Raila power. From 2020 I had been pointing out many instances that convinced me Uhuru was playing Raila but like Oburu and many others we were told to relax because we now had a “deep state” and “system”.
Sifuna knows Uhuru bungled Raila’s 2022 but because he feeds off Uhuru now; he doesn’t care.
He has deluded himself that he needs the Agikuyu-Nairobi votes more than he needs ODM votes, the same delusion Kidero adopted from 2015. We were in this town and we saw how that ended. Again the same delusion Ababu adopted from 2016. Again we were in this town and saw how that ended.
Hii ya Sifuna si ngumu kushinda ile ya Ababu.
