Court Rules On Sifuna Dismissal As ODM Secretary General
The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) has extended the stay on Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna’s dismissal as Secretary General of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
The tribunal also instructed all parties to highlight their submissions by March 12, 2026.
The ODM National Executive Committee (NEC) met in Mombasa on February 11, 2026, and decided to remove Sifuna from office due to concerns about discipline among the party’s senior executives.
The NEC meeting, chaired by party leader Dr. Oburu Oginga, then appointed ODM Deputy Secretary General and Busia Woman Representative Catherine Omanyo as acting Secretary General until a substantive office bearer is elected.
The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal's Mandate: Hearing and Determining Political Party Disputes per Section 40(2) of the Political Parties Act (No. 11 of 2011).
— PPDTKenya (@ppdtkenya) February 26, 2026
CAUSELIST
Date: 26th February, 2026.
Time: 2.30PM.
Link:https://t.co/FQEqNyFZEE pic.twitter.com/PPQlqSy2Kp
Sifuna then went to the PPDT the next day, where he won after the Tribunal suspended attempts to remove him from office.
The Tribunal also prohibited the respondents from publishing the resolution to dismiss Sifuna in the Kenya Gazette, a vital step that would have formalized and implemented his expulsion.
His departure sparked heated political controversy within ODM ranks, with allies calling the action unusual and politically motivated.
On Wednesday, ODM filed a preliminary objection attempting to have Sifuna’s lawsuit filed at the PPDT dismissed, alleging that the disagreement is premature and the tribunal lacks jurisdiction.
In the complaint, Sifuna had sued ODM and the Registrar of Political Parties as the first and second respondents.
The Senator sought the tribunal’s intervention in a matter understood to touch on internal party governance and decisions of the party’s NEC.
However, ODM – through Makori & Karimi Advocates – argued that the tribunal is barred from entertaining the dispute under Section 40(2) of the Political Parties Act.
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The party said disputes under Section 40(1)(a)-(e) cannot be heard by the PPDT unless they have first been subjected to and determined through a party’s Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanisms (IDRM).
ODM maintained that the issues raised by Sifuna concern internal governance and are therefore subject to mandatory prior exhaustion of internal party structures.
The party argued that Sifuna has neither pleaded nor demonstrated that he invoked or exhausted ODM’s internal mechanisms, nor shown exceptional circumstances that would justify bypassing them.
With the extension of the freeze, the Tribunal has effectively reinstated and protected Sifuna’s position as Secretary General, at least temporarily until the dispute is fully heard and determined.
Court Rules On Sifuna Dismissal As ODM Secretary General
