Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has defended ODM’s decision to hand direct nomination tickets to several female candidates during the 2022 general election, saying it was a deliberate move to support and grow women’s leadership within the party and across the country.

Speaking during the memorial service of the late Phoebe Asiyo on August 6, 2025, Sifuna disclosed how the Orange Democratic Movement had intentionally shielded female legislators like Millie Odhiambo from male challengers in the 2022 primaries to increase the representation of women in Parliament.

“I remember men who used to come to my office saying, ‘Oh, Sifuna, I want to run in Suba North.’ And I’m like, ‘But bro, you are a man,’” Sifuna recalled.

“There is no way the party is subjecting Millie Odhiambo to primaries against a man. If you want to run in her constituency, can you please be of the same gender so that we can subject you?” he added.

Sifuna, who also serves as ODM Secretary-General, told mourners that all female aspirants in the 2022 elections were handed direct tickets as part of the party’s broader commitment to gender equity.

“There’s a reason,” he said. “We want to grow the number of women in leadership in these constituencies.”

He argued that such decisions were rooted in a larger strategy championed by ODM leader Raila Odinga, who, he said, has always maintained that men only have two choices when it comes to the women’s movement.

“My leader, the honourable Raila Odinga, has taught us that men have only two options when it comes to women’s progress in this country. You either support the women’s movement or get out of their way. It is that simple. They will take care of themselves,” he asserted.

Sifuna further revealed that beyond providing direct nominations, the party also covered nomination fees and life membership charges for all women seeking constituency seats in that election cycle.

“This was a deliberate step. There are many obstacles that are placed in the path of women’s leadership, including the cost and violence that you have seen here, mama herself [Asiyo] faced,” he said, citing the multiple barriers that often stand in the way of women pursuing elective office.