The simmering rivalry between ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna and National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed has burst into a full-blown political inferno, laying bare bitter secrets from Raila Odinga’s ill-fated 2022 presidential bid and pushing the opposition party to the brink of implosion.
What began as murmurs of discontent in the post-Raila era following Odinga’s death in 2025 has now erupted into explosive public accusations of sabotage, stolen campaign funds and betrayal at the very heart of ODM’s election machine.
On January 3, 2026, Sifuna fired the opening salvo, accusing Junet — ODM’s Director of Elections in 2022 — of pocketing millions allegedly donated by former President Uhuru Kenyatta to facilitate the payment of election agents. According to Sifuna, the funds never reached the ground, leaving ODM agents absent from polling stations in crucial regions such as Mt Kenya and Luo Nyanza.
The result, Sifuna claimed, was a humiliating “piga 10–nil” defeat that rivals still mock today, despite Raila securing over a million votes in Mt Kenya alone. He branded Junet a hypocrite for now attacking Uhuru’s role in ODM while allegedly benefiting from his money, and demanded a forensic audit of the 2022 election funds, insisting the party would be in government had resources been properly managed. Defiant, Sifuna dismissed any threat of party discipline, casting himself as the last line of defense against ODM’s capture by government-friendly forces.
Junet hit back within hours — and with equal venom.
Flatly denying the allegations, he redirected blame to Uhuru Kenyatta’s inner circle, claiming the funds were released to Uhuru’s brother, Muhoho Kenyatta. Junet alleged that Muhoho installed one Patrick Mburu, said to be masquerading as an IT expert tasked with neutralizing IEBC manipulation, to oversee agent recruitment and payments. Operations, he claimed, were run from a shadowy Westlands office so secretive that even Raila himself had no access.
According to Junet, no agents were ultimately deployed in either Mt Kenya or Luo Nyanza. He challenged Uhuru, Muhoho, Mburu — and Sifuna — to “tell Kenyans the whole truth” about what happened to the money, brushing off claims of betrayal by pointing to Raila’s decision to later elevate him to Minority Leader.
The clash is the culmination of weeks of mounting hostility. In late December 2025, Junet accused Sifuna and Siaya Senator James Orengo of plotting to “sell” ODM — allegedly to Uhuru — for KSh1 billion, branding Sifuna a “mole” working for shadowy interests ranging from the NIS to allies of President William Ruto. Sifuna retaliated by calling out “washenzi” within ODM for attacking Uhuru, a key 2022 ally, and ominously hinted that if pushed out, he could walk away with ODM’s Luhya support base.
As the war of words escalates, other heavyweights have been dragged into the mess. Newly installed party leader Oburu Oginga, along with governors and MPs such as Gladys Wanga and Peter Kaluma, now find themselves navigating accusations of ethnic favoritism, power grabs and factional scheming that threaten to tear the party apart.
The implications for ODM are dire.
Without Raila’s unifying grip, the party is increasingly fractured along ethnic and ideological lines. The Sifuna–Junet showdown has amplified tensions between Luo and Luhya factions, with critics portraying Sifuna as an outsider and supporters accusing the old guard of intolerance and entitlement. A Sifuna exit — forced or voluntary — could devastate ODM’s Western Kenya base and harden tribal fault lines.
At the same time, ODM appears split between a “transaction wing” accused of cozying up to President Ruto’s government for personal gain, and hardline opposition purists insisting the party must remain a fearless counterweight to power. Claims of external interference and attempts to buy or neutralize ODM only deepen fears that the party’s identity as a people’s opposition is under siege.
With leaders trading accusations on social media and in press conferences, the risk of expulsions, investigations into the 2022 funds, or even a formal party split now looms large. While some hope moderates may still force a reckoning and reforms, others warn the damage may already be irreversible.
One thing is clear: the Sifuna–Junet fallout has ripped the curtain off ODM’s deepest wounds. In the absence of Raila Odinga’s steady hand, unresolved grudges and naked ambition now threaten to reduce a once-dominant opposition movement into warring factions — and hand its rivals an open goal ahead of future elections.
