The Eddy Oketch confession has Kenyan politics buzzing again, with the Migori Senator lifting the lid on a heated ODM National Executive Committee meeting that was supposed to boot out Secretary General Edwin Sifuna.
It all went down in Mombasa a short while back. Party bigwigs gathered to decide Sifuna’s fate amid growing tensions inside the Orange Democratic Movement.
According to Eddy Oketch, who sat in that room as an NEC member, the vote didn’t go the way the top brass expected. He says roughly three-quarters of the committee members pushed back hard against kicking Sifuna out. They wanted him to stay on, at least for now.
But that didn’t matter. Oketch claims Junet Mohammed and Oburu Odinga stepped in and shut it all down. They basically told the room their word was final. No more debate.
Sifuna was done as Secretary General, full stop. Junet didn’t mince his words either. He looked everyone in the eye and announced he’d be gunning for the top job himself at the upcoming National Delegates Conference. Come March, he’d take over as the new SG. Oburu nodded along and stamped the whole thing as settled.
Oketch spilled all this in a recent chat that’s now spreading like wildfire on social media. He didn’t hold back, painting a picture of a small group overriding the majority.
“We voted, and most of us said no to the removal,” he explained. But the duo from the Odinga inner circle had other plans. It left some NEC members stunned, feeling like their voices got ignored.
This revelation comes at a tricky time for ODM. The party has been dealing with internal rifts for months. Sifuna, the outspoken Nairobi Senator, has clashed with several leaders over everything from alliances to how the party should position itself ahead of future polls. Some accuse him of stepping out of line, while his supporters see him as a fresh voice keeping the flame alive.
Junet Mohammed, long a key figure in ODM circles, has been vocal about wanting change at the top. His push for the Secretary General spot isn’t a surprise to those watching closely.
Oburu Odinga, Raila’s brother and a steady hand in party affairs, throwing his weight behind it adds real muscle to the move. Together, they seem determined to reshape things their way.
Online, the reaction has been electric. X and Facebook are full of takes from both sides. Some call it a blatant power grab. “ODM is turning into a family affair again,” one post read, racking up hundreds of likes.
Others defend the decision, saying Sifuna had become too independent and needed reining in. A few even joke about it: “Junet for SG? That’s like swapping one headache for another.”
Oketch’s words have added fuel to the fire. As a Senator from Migori and a party insider, his account carries weight. He’s not some outsider stirring trouble-he was there, in the room.
His confession suggests the removal wasn’t as clean-cut as it first appeared. Instead of a united front, it highlights cracks in the NEC. Three-quarters against? That’s a clear majority in most books. Yet it got tossed aside.
The timing feels deliberate too. With the National Delegates Conference looming, positions are up for grabs. Sifuna’s exit would open the door for new faces, and Junet’s early declaration shows he’s not waiting around. March could mark a big shift, especially if the conference goes ahead as planned.
Not everyone’s buying the story hook, line, and sinker. Sifuna’s camp has stayed mostly quiet so far, but whispers suggest they’re preparing a response. Party loyalists point out that these kinds of meetings often involve backroom deals, and what happens in Mombasa doesn’t always stay there.
This isn’t the first time ODM has aired its dirty laundry. One day you’re in, the next you’re out, depending on who holds the real strings. As the conference approaches, expect more fireworks. Will Sifuna fight back? Can Junet rally the numbers he needs? And where does Oburu fit in all this? The answers might come sooner than anyone thinks.
