Oburu Addresses Claims of Sifuna Being Raila's Exit Strategy from Gov't

ODM Party leader Oburu Oginga has dismissed lawyer Paul Mwangi’s claims that Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna was Raila Odinga’s exit strategy from the broad-based government.

Speaking during an interview on Sunday, April 19, Oburu rejected Mwangi’s assertions, saying he only knows him as Raila’s lawyer and not a strategist.

The Siaya Senator noted that if the late Raila had developed a strategy to exit from government, he would have been among those informed of the plan.

“I don’t know Paul Mwangi in politics; I only know him as Raila’s lawyer. I don’t know since when he was Raila’s strategist to know his strategies.

“I was personally involved in the strategies, and I don’t remember that, and even if he kept that to himself, he would not have said it to Mwangi and not to me. I don’t think that is accurate," Oburu said.

The ODM party leader claimed that the relationship between Raila and Sifuna was strained in the months leading to his death.

Oburu alleged that Sifuna organized youths who chanted slogans that embarrassed the late former prime minister in Kakamega.

“Raila was not happy with what Sifuna was doing, particularly a few months before he died, Sifuna embarrassed him in Kakamega.

“He organized youths who were like goons shouting ‘Sifuna’ and ‘wantam’. Raila had no option but to stand up and say that Sifuna had his democratic right,” Oburu added.

On March 29, Mwangi claimed that the current divisions within the ODM Party reflect a calculated political strategy rather than an unplanned fallout.

The lawyer explained that the late Raila formed two factions when he entered into an agreement with President William Ruto.

"What we have today is actually a fight between two Raila factions, a political-diplomatic faction and a militant faction. Unfortunately, the questions that now arise are about legitimacy, who the legitimate representative of Raila was," he said.

Mwangi explained that both factions, led by Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga and his Nairobi counterpart Edwin Sifuna, are valid representations of Raila’s political identity.

"They are all legitimate because Raila was a complex political character, and all of them represent something he did. Raila would not go into anything without an exit strategy. So even when he began working with President Ruto, he had an exit strategy. The exit strategy was the people who were fighting it, the Sifuna side," he added.

Further, Mwangi said the faction associated with Sifuna was a deliberate fallback position, suggesting it was designed to counterbalance cooperation efforts if they failed.

"That was his exit strategy. And if things did not work out or if we got it go ahead with the cooperation side, he was going to go and turn into his militant side and tell them, 'come get me," he further said.