Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala on Tuesday morning engaged in a heated confrontation with ODM secretary-general Edwin Sifuna over his role in the opposition party.
It all started when Sifuna claimed that Malala had stated that the Amani Nation Congress (ANC) party as it was earlier constituted was not reflecting an image of a national party.
"Over time, we have been able to correct that. You saw in our recent National Delegates Conference (NDC) we were able to open up the party
"When you look at our party deputy leaders list, we have two from the coastal region, one from Meru, a secretary-general from Mt Kenya region, meaning we are walking the practical ways of making sure that our party has a national look," Sifuna said.
The ODM secretary-general also said that Malala had the tendency of speaking highly about the smallness of ANC party.
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"He questioned the structure of the ANC party: the party leader is a Luhya, the secretary-general is a Luhya. All NEC members are Luhyas, and they all come from one village
"They have now attempted to look for one young man (Simon Kamau Gikuru) and install him as the SG, then claim that ANC is a national party," Sifuna explained.
In a quick rejoinder, Malala claimed that Sifuna is not the ODM secretary-general and he is in then party for his own personal interests.
Malala stated that Sifuna had been reduced to a social media manager for the Raila Odinga-led party.
"I can tell you and assure you that the secretary-general of ODM is not Edwin Sifuna. Sifuna is just there for the purposes of optics
"His job description is to handle the social media platforms for ODM and take selfies at Orange House," the Senator said.
Malala further compared Sifuna to his counterparts serving in the same capacity in other parties and his predecessors in ODM.
He used an example of MP Godfrey Osotsi who took advantage of his position while serving as secretary-general at Musalia Mudavadi's Amani National Congress (ANC) and nominated himself to parliament.
"Look at his cohorts in other political parties; if you want to know that a secretary-general is a serious person, look at Raphael Tuju in Jubilee. He is a Cabinet Secretary. Look at Sifuna's predecessor Ababu Namwamba; he is a Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS)
"Sifuna is simply a spanner boy who has no definite job description and has no mandate to make decisions in ODM. He has no monopoly to demean other political parties," Malala said.
