NAIROBI, Kenya — ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has officially walked away from the political ceasefire deal between his party and President William Ruto’s ruling coalition.
In a hard-hitting interview on Citizen TV Tuesday night, the Nairobi Senator declared the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ODM and UDA “dead” — and he’s not mincing words.
The tipping point? The recent death of teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang while in police custody. For Sifuna, that was the final straw in what he describes as a series of bad-faith actions by the Kenya Kwanza administration.
“On the day that Albert Ojwang dies in a police cell, to me this agreement is dead,” Sifuna stated bluntly. “Because it doesn’t matter what else you do, Albert will not be able to enjoy that.”
He argued that the MoU’s intent — reducing political tension and saving lives — has been thoroughly betrayed.
Sifuna, who has long been skeptical of the deal, revealed he warned ODM not to sign the agreement in the first place.
He claims President Ruto and his allies had no intention of honoring its content, accusing them of using the MoU as a public relations stunt rather than a genuine effort at bipartisan cooperation.
“I am on record having advised the party against doing this MoU with UDA,” Sifuna said. “The beauty is that we’re proven right every day.”
He went on to say the Kenya Kwanza camp has consistently acted in bad faith, pushing a misleading narrative that the MoU created a coalition government.
“That’s not what this document says,” Sifuna noted, adding that the PR fallout was inevitable and entirely predictable.
Despite recent efforts within ODM to salvage the agreement, including a proposal to form a review team, Sifuna says he won’t be part of it. “I have asked respectfully that I be left out of that team because I have already declared this MoU dead.”
For context, the MoU between ODM and UDA was crafted to reduce escalating tensions that followed last year’s protests and to preserve Kenya’s democratic framework.
But Sifuna insists that while Ruto may be reaping the political benefits — including a stabilized government until 2027 — ordinary Kenyans continue to pay the price, often with their lives.
“The initial argument for entering this MoU was two-fold,” he explained. “First, for the sustenance of life — that we were losing people unnecessarily. Second, for the protection of the democratic state. Well, Ruto is getting his end of the bargain. Our people are not.”
The death of Albert Ojwang, who reportedly died under suspicious circumstances in a police cell, has reignited debate over police brutality in Kenya.
His remarks come as pressure mounts on both sides of the political divide to clarify the terms — and the future — of the ODM-UDA arrangement.
But if Sifuna’s position is anything to go by, the MoU is not just on life support. It’s already been buried.
