Gladys Wanga Edwin Sifuna.jpg
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has rejected mounting calls for him to resign from his seat after moving away from ODM to The Equitable Party (TEP), saying a resignation ten months before the 2027 General Election would needlessly burden taxpayers.
Speaking to journalists at his Nairobi office on Friday, October 9, 2026, Sifuna defended his decision to stay in office while charting a new political course.
He drew a comparison with President William Ruto, questioning why he alone faced pressure to step down.
“Ask William Ruto. When did William Ruto resign to join UDA?” he said, adding that all politicians must prepare for the next election.
Sifuna recently unveiled TEP as his vehicle for 2027, signalling his intention to contest the presidency. He is a prominent figure in the Linda Mwananchi faction, a group of ODM politicians opposed to backing Ruto’s re-election bid.
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Despite his new direction, the senator insisted he remains a card-carrying ODM member, having been elected on the party’s ticket. He described his mandate as a five-year contract with Nairobi residents that he intends to honour.
He said he would formally leave ODM closer to the General Election, explaining that he will not run on its ticket because the party is now “in the hands of William Ruto.”
Sifuna warned that forcing every politician who no longer intends to seek re-election on ODM to resign would trigger widespread by-elections. Such a scenario, he said, would amount to a mini general election funded by taxpayers just months before the national polls.
He also accused his critics of double standards, noting that politicians who left UDA for other parties had not faced similar demands. “It is hypocrisy that that question is only asked to Sifuna,” he said.
Sifuna maintained that elected leaders should be allowed to complete their terms even when pursuing ambitions under different parties, adding that ODM’s current alignment left him no viable space within it.
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