Nairobi Senator and ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has publicly criticised senior leaders within his own party, accusing them of abandoning reform ideals and embracing ethnic power-sharing politics after joining government.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Tuesday night, Sifuna said some ODM leaders were now engaging in the same “shares” politics they previously condemned, particularly rhetoric associated with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
He warned that the shift undermined the party’s long-standing principles and reform agenda.
Sifuna took issue with what he described as a growing obsession with ethnic balance in public appointments, arguing that ODM had historically opposed such thinking.
“This is what they keep parroting—saying they have employed somebody from Western, they have employed somebody from the Coast, they have employed somebody from Nyanza,” he said.
“When we were discussing these issues, it was not about positions or which tribe gets what.”
The senator said debates within ODM had always centred on governance, equity, and service delivery rather than ethnic arithmetic.
He expressed concern that some leaders were now prioritising regional representation narratives as a way of justifying their proximity to power.
In a sharp rebuke, Sifuna said ODM figures had begun mirroring the very politics they once criticised.
“We have turned into the Rigathi Gachaguas of today,” he stated. “We are the ones speaking the language of shares. We are the ones saying the cow should be divided into two halves, 50–50.”
He attributed the change in tone to access to state power, suggesting that proximity to government had altered political behaviour.
According to Sifuna, the temptation to defend political interests through ethnic framing had grown stronger since some ODM leaders joined the broad-based government arrangement.
Sifuna’s remarks come amid ongoing internal debate within ODM over its role in government and its future political direction.
While some party leaders have defended cooperation with the ruling administration as a way of stabilising the country and influencing policy from within, critics argue it risks diluting the party’s identity as an opposition movement.
The senator warned that normalising “shares” politics could erode public trust and weaken national cohesion.
He urged ODM leaders to return to issue-based politics and remain consistent with the values they have long presented to Kenyans.
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