Relief for Sifuna after orders blocking his removal as ODM Secretary General extended

The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) has extended orders barring the removal of Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party Secretary General.

The tribunal also directed all parties in the matter to highlight their submissions on March 12, 2026.

The ODM National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held in Mombasa on February 11, 2026 resolved to remove Sifuna from office citing concerns about discipline within the party’s senior leadership.

The NEC meeting, chaired by party leader Dr. Oburu Oginga, went on to install ODM Deputy Secretary General and Busia Woman Representative Catherine Omanyo to serve as acting Secretary General until a substantive office holder is elected.

Sifuna however moved to the PPDT the following day, where he secured a win after the Tribunal halted attempts to remove him from office.

The Tribunal further barred the respondents from publishing the resolution to oust Sifuna in the Kenya Gazette, a critical step that would have formalised and effected his removal.

His removal had triggered intense political debate within ODM ranks, with allies terming the move irregular and politically motivated.

ODM on Wednesday raised a preliminary objection seeking to have a complaint filed by Sifuna at the PPDT struck out, arguing that the dispute is premature and the tribunal lacks jurisdiction.

In the complaint, Sifuna had sued ODM and the Registrar of Political Parties as the first and second respondents, seeking the tribunal’s intervention in a matter understood to touch on internal party governance and decisions of the party’s NEC.

However, ODM - through Makori & Karimi Advocates - argued that the tribunal is barred from entertaining the dispute under Section 40(2) of the Political Parties Act.

The party said disputes under Section 40(1)(a)-(e) cannot be heard by the PPDT unless they have first been subjected to and determined through a party’s Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (IDRM).

ODM maintained that the issues raised by Sifuna concern internal governance and are therefore subject to mandatory prior exhaustion of internal party structures.

The party argued that Sifuna has neither pleaded nor demonstrated that he invoked or exhausted ODM’s internal mechanisms, nor shown exceptional circumstances that would justify bypassing them.

With extension of the freeze, the Tribunal has effectively reinstated and protected Sifuna’s position as Secretary General, at least temporarily until the dispute is fully heard and determined.