Onyonka defends Sifuna’s remarks on broad-based govt
By Valerian Khakayi, July 31, 2025Kisii Senator Richard Onyonka has come out in support of ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna, affirming that Sifuna was voicing the concerns of party members and many Kenyans.
Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Wednesday night, July 30, 2025, Onyonka emphasised that Sifuna was not making personal attacks but representing longstanding frustrations within the party.
He urged the broad-based government to take note of those critiques and respond constructively.
“Sifuna was not talking about himself, he was basically raising the issues which many people in the party have been raising. What Sifuna is talking about resonates with ODM members and Kenyans,” Onyonka stated.
“If the broad-based government can pick up from what Sifuna has been saying.”
Onyonka on ODM’s stand
In addition, the senator said that the party’s position was very clear, stating that they were part of a broad‑based government, but if that government failed to deliver the basic minimum, any member speaking as an individual had every right to raise those issues.
“What the party said was very simple. Yes, we are in this broad-based government, but at the same time, if this broad-based government does not deliver the basic minimum, Sifuna has a right to raise those issues as an individual,” he added.
Sifuna’s remarks
The remarks appear to target Sifuna’s recent public criticisms of the ODM-UDA Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Sifuna questioned the implementation of the MoU resolutions and has voiced skepticism over ODM’s power-sharing arrangements with President Ruto’s administration.
In a recent interview on a local TV station, Sifuna bare-knuckled the broad-based government, especially President William Ruto and his troops, for suppressing violations of human rights.
He also criticised the government for failing to honour the MOU, particularly on issues related to extrajudicial killings, abductions, and governance failures.
“I have already declared this MOU dead, ” he stated.
“I am on record having advised the party against doing this MOU with UDA, and we still went ahead and entered that MOU, but you see the beauty is that you are proven right every day,” he added.
The Secretary General criticised the government’s approach to the MoU, arguing that President William Ruto was not interested in the document’s details but rather wanted it for public relations purposes.
“The problem with doing a formal MOU with UDA is that it didn’t matter what the MOU said, the people from UDA, the government, William Ruto, is not interested in the details of the MOU… They wanted a document that they could then go and run a PR campaign around and say ‘Tumeungana‘, ‘We are together’, that is not what this document says,” Sifuna explained.