Former Budalangi MP Ababu Namwamba has refuted Treasury CS John Mbadi’s recent claim suggesting that Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna’s removal as ODM Secretary General mirrors his own exit from the same post.
Mbadi had, in an interview days before Sifuna’s ouster on Wednesday, implied that Namwamba had similarly been “removed” from the party’s top secretarial position.
In a pointed response, Namwamba clarified that he was never dismissed.
“Ndugu John Mbadi, you cannot rewrite history bwana! No one ever fired me from the position of The ODM party Secretary General. When I couldn’t stand the everlasting party shenanigans, I had the audacity, the valor, the cojones and the honour to walk away, head held high, with my pride intact,” he stated.
Namwamba emphasized that his decision to leave was voluntary and executed with dignity.
“The resultant headlines of that valiant move are indelibly etched in history and cannot be erased by myopic revisionism. I served with quintessential commitment and departed roho safi. And it is the best decision I have made in my public life, one I never have regretted once,” he added.
He also used the opportunity to reflect on ODM’s evolution, noting its diminished political influence compared to earlier years.
“Though proudly a founding visionary of the Orange Dream, I moved on, happily so. Please concentrate your passion and energies on strengthening the party, whose fortunes today are certainly not what they were in 2007, when we waged the most formidable political blitz in Kenyan history, or in 2016, when I boldly walked away in broad daylight,” Namwamba said.
The former lawmaker urged ODM to refocus on governance and party-building, highlighting the importance of robust political structures in a democratic society.
“May the MV Orange retrace its original compass and put Kenyans’ best interests above all else. Strong, well-run parties are the building blocks for a vibrant constitutional democracy. I wish ODM well,” he concluded.
Namwamba’s response comes in the wake of Sifuna’s replacement by Deputy Secretary General Catherine Omanyo, a move widely interpreted as part of ODM’s internal restructuring.