Alai’s Sifuna-Owino ODM exit warning has ignited fresh fissures in the Orange Democratic Movement just weeks after Raila Odinga’s burial, with Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai firing a salvo on social media that Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino won’t linger in the party past November, branding their roles as fleeting amid whispers of a post-Baba purge that could reshape Kenya’s opposition landscape.
Alai, the outspoken ward rep known for his unfiltered X blasts and unyielding loyalty to ODM’s old guard, dropped the prediction in a midday post that swiftly amassed over likes and sparked a torrent of replies.
“Sifuna won’t stay in ODM beyond November. We wish him well. Anacheza!” he wrote, the Sheng slang a cheeky nod to the secretary-general’s alleged political gamesmanship.
While the barb targeted Sifuna directly, Alai’s broader thread wove in Owino, the firebrand MP whose street-smart bravado has long clashed with party elders, hinting at a duo destined for the exit door as Nyanza loyalists tighten ranks around interim leader Dr Oburu Oginga.
The timing couldn’t be more charged. Odinga’s October 10 death in India left ODM reeling, its broad-based government dalliance with President Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza a fragile truce tested by youth unrest and cabinet squabbles.
Sifuna, the slick-tongued Nairobi senator elevated to SG in 2021, has been a lightning rod, praised for his digital savvy in rallying urban millennials but lambasted by purists for cosying up to Ruto’s inner circle.
“He’s more hustler fund pitchman than opposition thorn,” Alai jabbed in follow-ups, echoing gripes from Siaya MPs like Sam Atandi, who recently called for Sifuna’s ouster in favour of Jared Okello.
Owino, ever the wildcard with his viral takedowns of tax hikes and abductions, faces similar heat. The former student leader, who clinched his seat amid 2017’s youth surge, has bucked ODM’s Ruto thaw, publicly vowing to “fight the regime to the death” in July rallies that drew Gen Z cheers but party frowns.
Speculation peaked last week when the pair huddled with MPs like Saboti’s Caleb Amisi in a Nairobi war room, fuelling rumours of a splinter faction eyeing Wiper or a fresh “Orange Watermelon” reboot.
“Babu and Sifuna are marked men,” Alai posted, tagging Oburu and Siaya Governor James Orengo, whose defence of the duo as “wonderful individuals” now rings hollow amid the backlash.
ODM insiders paint a party at the crossroads: Raila’s July handshake secured ministries for allies like Energy CS Opiyo Wandayi, but at the cost of ideological bleed. “Baba built bridges, but these boys are burning them,” confided a Nyanza organiser, speaking off-record.
For Sifuna and Owino, the clock ticks louder. Sifuna’s camp dismissed Alai as a “keyboard warrior” in a terse reply, while Owino fired back with a reel mocking “jealous fossils”. As ODM’s National Executive Committee reconvenes next week to chart a post-mourning course, Alai’s warning hangs like Nairobi smog: a fracture that could birth a new opposition beast or doom the party to irrelevance.
In the cafes of Kileleshwa and the shebeens of Embakasi, punters swap bets, not on who leaves, but on who takes the reins when the dust settles. Kenya’s political poker just upped the ante.