ODM threatens to punish members endorsing DP Ruto

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has warned that the party will take disciplinary action against members who have openly declared their support for Deputy President William Ruto’s 2022 presidential bid.

Sifuna’s remarks come in response to an article published in a local daily on Wednesday claiming that ODM deputy leader Hassan Joho’s allies from the Coastal region had ditched the opposition camp and vowed to back DP Ruto.

The leaders, according to the article, are Coast Parliamentary Group Chairman Suleiman Dori, Jomvu MP Badi Twalib and his Kinango counterpart Benjamin Tayari.

In a statement to newsrooms, Sifuna accuses the said leaders of openly defying the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) as well as party leader Raila Odinga.

“Whereas the party does not seek to limit members’ rights to express themselves, we consider these expressions of support for 2022 candidates an affront on the party especially because the Party through its NEC passed resolutions at its recent retreat resolving to focus solely on the building bridges initiative,” reads the statement.

“The party leader has also repeatedly directed members not to engage in discussions about 2022.”

Sifuna added that some of the said leaders who “engaged in premature campaigns for Ruto” are members of the party’s NEC and are, hence, expected to abide by its decisions.

“The Party through its appropriate organs will now consider disciplinary action against these members should they persist in their contempt of Party resolutions and directions from the Party Leader,” reads the statement.