The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has found itself in yet another round of an internal crisis as the youth league leader Kasmuel McOure brings forth a very loud and angry ultimatum directed at the Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna.
In what seemed like a series of very tense declarations, on Wednesday, December 24, 2025, McOure made his demand for Sifuna’s firing, accusing the Nairobi Senator of not supporting the leadership of the interim party chief, Dr. Oburu Oginga, and of striking the party’s strategic partnership with the government through the “Broad-based” alliance.
This dispute, which has been inflamed ever since the death of Raila Odinga, got to its hottest when Sifuna was said to have doubted the party’s long-term relationship with the Kenya Kwanza government.
McOure, who has declared himself to be the ideological guardian of the Oginga legacy, cautioned that Sifuna’s “two-faced behavior” is nothing but a direct insult to the transition process that is supposed to calm the country.
The deep-rooted conflict is all about power, a power struggle over the soul of the largest opposition party in the country. Sifuna has been firm with a “Wantam” (anti-alliance) position that is radical and thus keeps ODM’s identity, while the “Old Guard,” led by Oburu Oginga, is pushing for complete government integration.
McOure claims that Sifuna is an “independent power center,” disregarding the orders from the party’s Siaya headquarters.
“Since when has the Secretary-General been a decision-maker? If Edwin Sifuna is under the impression he is bigger than the institution that gave him a speaking platform, he should quit and run for a new mandate alone,” McOure said during a highly charged press conference.
He termed Sifuna’s latest remarks as a “slow-motion coup,” which was intended to knock off the Oginga family’s influence before the 2027 General Election.
There is a very interesting “twist” in this power battle that is the silent fight about the 2027 presidential nomination. Party insiders say that McOure’s attack is actually the first phase of the project aimed at eliminating Sifuna from the race for the party’s top position.
While the pro-Broad-based faction is depicting Sifuna as a “disrespectful” person towards Oburu Oginga, they are actually trying to brand him as a polarizing person who is not trustworthy with the party’s national interests.
Besides, McOure has made it public that the Youth League is working on a formal petition to be submitted to the National Executive Committee (NEC) for disciplinary actions against Sifuna.
This step is meant to take away Sifuna’s party tools, thereby “beheading” the anti-Ruto faction of the party before the early 2026 celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the party.
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