Amisi, Sifuna threaten mass ODM walkout if Raila endorses Ruto for 2027 » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 3 — Saboti MP Caleb Amisi and Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna have vowed to lead a mass walkout from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) if the party endorses President William Ruto’s re‑election bid in 2027.

Speaking during a women empowerment fundraiser in Lukhome, Trans Nzoia County, on Sunday, the two leaders rallied a vocal renegade faction within ODM that is increasingly disillusioned with the party’s warming ties to the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

The event, branded the Lukhome Declaration, was positioned as an alternative political platform for disgruntled ODM members seeking to chart a new course ahead of the next general election.

“If you decide to work with Ruto in 2027, that will be the end of me and you,” Amisi told supporters, signaling an irreparable break if ODM endorses the president.

“I will read all the resolutions except the one on ODM endorsing President William Ruto in 2027. We will talk to everyone whose agenda is to remove William Ruto from power in 2027,” Sifuna, the party’s Secretary General who has become increasingly defiant, declared.

The faction warned that backing Ruto would be tantamount to “dancing on the atrocities” committed by his administration, including the alleged killings of Gen Z protesters and what they described as a failing education and health system.

They were joined by several MPs allied to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Gusii political heavyweight Fred Matiang’i, both of whom are said to be eyeing the presidency in 2027.

Aimisi and Sifuna have emerged as the crusaders of growing unease within ODM over its working arrangement with UDA, formalized in March after a truce between ODM leader Raila Odinga and President Ruto.

‘Broad-based’ dead

That deal saw senior ODM figures Opiyo Wandayi, John Mbadi, Hassan Joho, and Wycliffe Oparanya join Ruto’s Cabinet.

Amisi likened the March 7 “broad-based” arrangement to the 2018 “handshake” between Odinga and former President Uhuru Kenyatta, which he claimed yielded little benefit for ODM’s grassroots supporters.

While Odinga has attempted to quell dissent by convening the party’s Central Management Committee, divisions within the party appear to be widening.

The Nairobi Senator has become increasingly unsettled in the Orange Party often challenging the outfit’s official position on key matters.

On July 29, he announced plans for a joint technical team with UDA to steer the implementation of the broad-based deal following a Central Committee meeting even as he remained defiant.

Sifuna has previously described the ODM‑UDA agreement as “effectively dead,” accusing UDA of reneging on the 10‑point agenda agreed by both parties.