The Linda Mwananchi political faction has announced its intention to challenge the latest decision by the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) National Executive Committee (NEC) to remove Senator Edwin Sifuna as Secretary General of the party in court.
The faction said that it had become aware on Monday evening of the NEC resolution to oust Sifuna from office for the second time.
Led by Nairobi Senator Sifuna, the MPs argued that the decision mirrors an earlier attempt in February which they described as unprocedural, unfair, and contrary to the party’s constitution.
“After consultation with our legal teams earlier this morning, it has been decided to once again test the propriety of the purported ouster in the courts because we are convinced it should suffer the same fate as the first one in February,” Mr Sifuna said.
Sifuna’s fate was sealed on Monday at Chung’wa House during a meeting chaired by the National Chairperson and Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga. Other attendees included the party leader, Senator Dr Oburu Oginga, and other NEC members.
In a resolution read by Acting Secretary-General Catherine Omanyo, the party stated that it had given Senator Sifuna ample opportunity to appear before the Internal Dispute Resolution Committee in person or through his lawyers, but he failed to do so.
“After going through the report and the findings of the committee under article 74 section 2 of the constitution, the NEC unanimously resolved to adopt the committee resolution and endorse the rem oval from office of Senator Edwin Sifuna. Effectively Senator Sifuna ceases to be the secretary-general of ODM Party,” Ms Omanyo said.
This comes barely four days after the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) ruled that Mr Sifuna had not been given a fair hearing by the party’s internal mechanisms when he was previously expelled.
Furthermore, the party stated that the decision to expel Mr Sifuna was based on the tribunal’s observation that internal dispute procedures must be exhausted.
“The day any official of a party becomes above the law, so to speak, will be the day of the funeral of political party democracy in Kenya. If such a situation were to occur as a matter of fact, this tribunal would never sanction the same by law, for such would be an affront to the law,” Ms Omanyo said, adding that the tribunal had clearly stated that it would be reluctant to interfere with the party’s affairs.
Governor Wanga stated that Mr Sifuna had refused to appear before the internal disciplinary body, despite having been sent several letters and invitations via online sessions asking him to do so.
Felix Ogeto, the chairperson of ODM’s internal committee, said that the party had decided to remove Mr Sifuna after his lawyer said that the senator had not instructed him to appear before them.
“His advocate appeared before us by virtue of professional courtesy and said that he had no instructions to appear or proceed to proceed with the hearing. In our opinion, we granted them enough time to precent their case, but they were unable to and therefore we able to make the decision,” Mr Ogeto said.
Meanwhile, the NEC announced that it would play a full role in the planned reparations programme for victims of past demonstrations, as announced by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).
According to the party, most of the victims of police brutality at recent demonstrations are from areas where the party has strong support.
“NEC has directed our Parliamentary Group through house leadership to play an integral role in this process in accordance of the law,” the party said, adding that the government should ensure that there is transparency in the compensation of the victims.
