Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna on Wednesday, August 20 fired back at Professor Makau Mutua after the legal scholar’s calls for him to resign from his position as ODM party’s Secretary-General. 

In an exchange which played out on social media, Makau initially claimed Sifuna was in an “untenable position” within the party, suggesting the Senator’s best course of action would be to step down. 

“My good learned friend and Senator Edwin Sifuna appears to be in an UNTENABLE position as SG of ODM Party. It seems to me that the honorable thing for him to do if he’s a man of principle is to resign his post, which rarely happens in Kenya, unless one is sacked,” Mutua, a close ally of ODM party leader Raila Odinga, said. 

But in a scathing response, Sifuna dismissed Makau Mutua’s remarks, accusing him of hypocrisy while referencing the professor’s recent appointment. 

“You have the unenviable task of determining the value of the lives of the young people your new friends killed and compensate their families,” Sifuna retorted. 

The Senator added, “One would imagine that crown to be so heavy as not to allow the wearer time for anything else, let alone worrying about the SG of ODM, who isn’t even your friend.”

Sifuna’s comments directly referenced Mutua’s new appointment to lead the framework for coordinating the compensation of victims of protests and riots.

Besides announcing Mutua’s appointment as the principal coordinator of the state intervention and compensation framework, President William Ruto revealed that the framework would last for 120 days from the date of the announcement.

Meanwhile, Sifuna’s standing in ODM has been a subject of speculation, particularly after his comments about the party in recent weeks where he appeared to question the party’s decisions. 

Sifuna’s response also comes amid growing pressure within ODM, following internal rifts and public disagreements that have left the him exposed to criticism from both party loyalists and political opponents.

During a press briefing on Tuesday, Sifuna was at it again as he accused governors of misadvising Raila on devolution, based on some of the pronouncements the ODM party leader made during the devolution conference.

“It is not the governors who have been misadvised. It is the governors who are misadvising our national leaders. It is the governors who have misadvised my party leader,” Sifuna stated during a press briefing. 

Despite calls for discipline and loyalty within ODM ranks, Sifuna has maintained a confrontational tone and was a conspicuous absentee from a joint parliamentary group meeting.