The embattled Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has opened up on his fallout with party leader Oburu Odinga, saying he once offered to resign to avoid tensions at the outfit’s top brass following Raila Odinga’s death.

The revelation comes amid the frost and murky fiasco in the Orange party, with the future of Sifuna uncertain even as his Linda Mwananchi-an anti-broad-based faction continues to gain more popularity, buckling up for the 2027 polls.

Amid jostle and legal battle over the SG seat, ODM has defended its internal disciplinary process of members accused of misconduct, urging a tribunal to step back as Sifuna seeks urgent intervention to block his removal as secretary-general.

Appearing before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) on Monday, April 20, 2026, the party’s advocates argued that the dispute should be resolved within its structures, insisting the ongoing process is lawful and already in motion.

ODM told the tribunal that after its earlier ruling shielding the SG from ouster, Sifuna went on to convene a parallel and rival national conference, which it cited as part of the grounds that informed the decision to subject him to disciplinary proceedings.

“We have placed before this Tribunal evidence that after your ruling, the complainant convened a parallel and rival conference, conduct that goes directly to the disciplinary concerns now under process,” ODM submitted.

Sifuna, through Senior Counsel Isaac Okero, approached the tribunal early April seeking to halt the implementation of a February 11, 2026, resolution and stop any disciplinary proceedings arising from a notice to show cause issued earlier this month.

However, now, speaking in an interview on a local TV station on Thursday, April 30, 2026, the Nairobi Senator revealed the dispute is rooted in the party’s constitution and internal rules, arguing that the leadership must operate within established structures.

“The biggest interest is not for Sifuna to be SG, but for the party to progress because what I said at Raila’s burial is what I believe in. I was prepared to give Oburu a letter and say, ‘Let me allow you to pick an SG,” he stated.

Sifuna recalled a meeting at ODM headquarters, Chungwa House, where he said he confronted Oburu over public remarks calling for his removal, linking the tensions to a past stormy ODM meeting in Kakamega, saying he was initially the target of heckling but the plan backfired, and later Oburu publicly suggested he could be kicked out of the party.

Sifuna said he told Oburu that the relationship between the party leader and the secretary general is intimate and could not work if there were unresolved tensions.

But Oburu assured him he had not organised the Kakamega incident, and called for them to work together through the transition period.

Sifuna added that he offered to hand in a resignation letter if Oburu still felt uncomfortable with him staying on as secretary general, saying his priority was the stability and progress of the party rather than holding office.

He said ODM remains one of Raila’s biggest political legacies and must outlive individual leaders, insisting that the party should be strengthened and remain perpetual.

“I believe that ODM is one of Raila’s big legacies as a person who believed in multiparty democracy and actually fought for it. He believed that political parties need to be strengthened; they need to be perpetual, the party needs to survive for all of us,” the Linda Mwananchi bigwig said.

Moreover, Sifuna has drawn a clear distinction between the leadership style of Oburu and Raila, arguing that the Orange outfit’s leaders and supporters were accustomed to a more consultative approach.

He said that although he respects Oburu, his leadership style in managing party activities is different from that to which ODM members were accustomed under Raila.

“Raila Odinga was something else; we did not expect that Oburu would be like Raila Odinga. He actually gets upset when we say, by the way, Baba would have done this. Sisi tuliharibiwa na Baba because he had a style of doing things,” Sifuna stated.

“Baba used to consult widely, and he used to explain things. I have nothing but respect for Dr Oburu, but he has a different way of doing things. We don’t begrudge him; we were just used to something else.”