The ODM Party has continued cracking the whip on its estranged ex-Secretary General, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi.
In an update issued on Wednesday, July 29, ODM removed Sifuna from the powerful Senate County Public Accounts Committee (CPAC) and sent him to the Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.
ODM replaced Sifuna with Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo. CPAC Chairperson Moses Kajwang' further nominated Senator Joseph Githuku to sit in the Committee.
On the other hand, Osotsi was removed as the chairperson of the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee and the Special Funds Committee. The Senator was replaced by his Taita Taveta County counterpart Johnes Mwaruma.
His ouster came after the Committee members held a vote of no confidence against him. They accused him of making decisions on behalf of the Committee without consulting his colleagues.
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"As members of the committee, we felt we needed to address the conduct and the way the chairperson had been running the affairs of the committee. There is nothing much about politics. It was an opportunity for the committee to put its house in order,” Nominated Senator Raphael Chimara said.
Chimera accused Osotsi of running the Committee like personal property, including postponing meetings without informing other members.
However, the Vihiga Senator alleged that his ouster was politically instigated and he was being prosecuted because of rejecting the broad-based government. He stated that it was nothing short of a political witch hunt.
The decision came barely hours after Sifuna, on public TV, revealed plans to remove him from the Senate CPAC, and stated that he was not bothered by the changes. He stated that he tried to persuade his ODM colleagues but had accepted his fate.
"It is clear that those in the ODM Leadership are done with us. I have seen that they are sending me to the Fisheries Committee, which they think is a punishment, but I actually need to learn about Agriculture, Fisheries and the Blue Economy for future assignments," the Senator stated.
The new development came within days of Sifuna being ousted as the Senate Deputy Minority Whip and being replaced by Migori Senator Eddy Oketch.
