NAIROBI, Kenya – Tensions within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) have intensified after Secretary General Edwin Sifuna publicly distanced the party from the financing of high-profile rallies conducted under the ‘Linda Ground’ banner, exposing what he described as parallel power and funding structures within the party.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday, Sifuna said the rallies—widely publicised as ODM events—are not funded through the party’s official accounts, warning that some individuals are operating outside established party structures while using ODM branding.
“I can state authoritatively that the resources you see being spent in ODM rallies, the so-called Linda Ground, are not coming from ODM headquarters,” Sifuna said, insisting that he can only account for spending formally sanctioned by the party.
The ODM Secretary General accused unnamed groups of organising activities in the party’s name without financial approval, describing the situation as the emergence of parallel operations within ODM.
“I know for a fact that there is parallel funding for activities clothed in ODM colours. Linda Ground rallies are not financed from ODM quarters or party coffers,” he said.
Pressed on the source of the funds, Sifuna declined to speculate, maintaining that tracing such finances was not within his mandate.
“You will ask them. I can only account for monies that I am a signatory to,” he said.
Sifuna further dismissed suggestions that senior party officials were discreetly funding the rallies, noting that ODM’s finances are tightly controlled and require multiple signatories.
He explained that the last officially sanctioned expenditure by the party was for ODM celebrations held in Mombasa, adding that the amount spent was significantly lower than the scale of the Linda Ground events.
“Timothy Bosire, the Treasurer, is also a signatory to the bank accounts, and the last money we expended as ODM officially was for the celebrations in Mombasa—and it was a fraction of what we saw there,” Sifuna said.
The remarks also shed light on ODM’s strained financial position. According to Sifuna, the party is owed billions of shillings in public funding arrears by the National Treasury.
“As we speak, ODM is owed a total of Sh12 billion by the Treasury,” he said, pointing out the irony that the former ODM chairperson now serves as Cabinet Secretary for the Treasury.
Sifuna’s comments come amid political realignments following the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO) talks between the late ODM leader Raila Odinga and President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
He noted that one of the key outcomes of the talks was an agreement to establish an independent body to oversee the regulation and funding of political parties—an issue now resurfacing amid the ODM funding dispute.
“Through NADCO, there was an agreement to establish an independent political parties regulatory commission to oversee the regulation and funding of political parties,” Sifuna said.
The controversy underscores growing internal unease within ODM as questions over transparency, authority, and financing increasingly spill into the public arena.
