National Assembly Minority Leader Junet Mohamed/ FILESuna East MP Junet Mohamed has dismissed claims by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna that the ODM-UDA memorandum of understanding is dead.
ODM leader Raila Odinga and President William Ruto signed the 10-point MoU on March 7 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre to address, among other issues, the protection of the right to protest and the need to cut wastage of public spending.
Speaking on Friday during a public rally, Junet said, contrary to Sifuna’s assertion, only Raila has the authority to make such a declaration.
“We are in ODM, and we are in the broad-based government and in that government, there was a MoU that was signed. The only person who can declare that MoU dead or alive is Baba alone,” he said.
Junet added that ODM’s support for the Kenya Kwanza administration is deliberate and necessary to safeguard national stability.
“We don’t want anarchy and chaos in our country. We are not fools, we know how our affairs are running and those who are jealous of us should give us space for us to run our affairs the best way we know. We want to continue supporting the broad-based government so that money will trickle from the top to the bottom,” he said.
Junet’s remarks follow Sifuna’s blunt assessment of the MoU earlier in the week, in which he declared it null and void.
Speaking on Citizen TV Tuesday night, July 22, Sifuna claimed the top decision-making organs of ODM recently met and considered reviewing the MoU — a process he declined to be part of.
“I have asked respectfully that I be left out of that team because I have already declared this MOU dead. So, there’s no point; I’m not a mortician. There’s no point in going to review a document that I have already declared dead,” Sifuna said.
He explained that his decision was prompted by what he described as the government's failure to uphold key principles outlined in the agreement.
“Preventing extrajudicial actions like abductions, upholding free speech, assembly, media independence, respect for court orders, political party integrity, and full implementation of the Political Parties Act,” the MoU states.
Sifuna said one of the most critical provisions — preserving lives and maintaining Kenya as a democratic state — had been violated.
“Ruto is getting the end of his bargain because the democratic state is being sustained at least until 2027, but our people are not getting there; they are still being killed,” he said.
“So on the day that Albert Ojwang’ died in a police cell, to me this agreement is dead because it doesn’t matter what else you are going to do, Albert is not going to enjoy that.”
ODM is currently battling internal friction, with senior figures split over the wisdom of aligning with President Ruto ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Sifuna’s increasingly forthright public remarks — marked by flashes of defiance — have stoked speculation over his future in the party.
Both he and Junet have long been regarded as key Raila Odinga loyalists and firebrands within the opposition.
Their sharp divergence on the MoU now lays bare the rifts within the Orange party as factions differ over whether Raila should back Ruto or give the presidency a sixth stab come 2027.
