By Hassan Wekesa - Editor
Kenya, 5 September 2026 - Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has claimed that Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and his co-principals in the Linda Mwananchi movement have no idea of the herculean task ahead of them as they prepare to launch a political party following their fallout with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leadership.
Sifuna, alongside Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and Siaya Governor James Orengo, has been making inroads in various parts of the country, campaigning against President William Ruto's second-term bid.
Mudavadi, who is also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, claimed that Sifuna is only visiting marketplaces to popularise his bid, but subsequently leaves without establishing any party structures.
"It is impossible for Sifuna to tell us that he is forming a political party just some 10 or 11 months before the General Election," Mudavadi said, adding that forming a national party requires sufficient time.
This comes a day after Sifuna posted on Friday that Orengo had bought them lunch when they convened a meeting. Orengo has recently come under scrutiny over alleged discord within the splinter group after claiming to be the Linda Mwananchi presidential flag bearer.
Following the meeting, Owino posted that the three Linda Mwananchi principals had deliberated on something very important.
"We are cooking something," Babu Owino wrote on the social media platform X.
Now, Mudavadi has countered Sifuna by claiming that as leaders from the Western Kenya region, they want to remain wise and align with a political party that possesses proper structures.
More from Kenya
"If we make rational choices, we as a region are going to achieve a lot politically. The wait is not going to be too long," Mudavadi said.
He also promised to be available soon when the Secretary-General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU-Kenya), Francis Atwoli, convenes a meeting to chart the political future of the Mulembe Nation.
Political pundits see Sifuna as a formidable force with a huge following in the Western Region, possessing the potential to disrupt the status quo that Mudavadi, alongside Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetang'ula, have controlled for decades.
Mudavadi folded his political vehicle Amani National Congress (ANC) to fully rally behind President Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
Wetang'ula's FORD Kenya on the other hand remains intact after its leadership opposed UDA's request that the party be folded.
ODM, in which Sifuna served as Secretary General, is led by Siaya Senator and Party Leader Dr Oburu Oginga Odinga, brother to the late prime minister Raila Amolo Odinga.
While Oburu is in support of Ruto's broad-based government, Sifuna is opposed to the call, stating that Raila while he was still alive, never left any political message that the party's supporters should support Ruto's second-term bid.