Court stops ODM from kicking out Sifuna allies from City Hall positions

By  Kevin Cheruiyot

Correspondent

What you need to know:

• The tribunal’s temporary intervention effectively preserves Mr Ogeto’s position as Majority Whip until the application is heard and determined.
• Mr Ogeto, who has been an MCA since 2013 and is among the longest-serving members of the assembly, recently moved to Senator Sifuna’s Linda Mwananchi movement.

The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal has stopped the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) from removing two Nairobi County Assembly members allied to Linda Mwananchi leader Edwin Sifuna from key positions.

In a ruling issued on November 9, 2026, tribunal chairperson Innocent Muganda barred the Speaker and the Nairobi County Assembly from effecting any changes to Assembly leadership positions on the basis of the contested letter, pending the hearing and determination of the application.

The ruling is a reprieve for Kilimani MCA Moses Ogeto, who is the Majority Party Whip and an aspirant for the Dagoretti North parliamentary seat in the 2027 General Election.

The tribunal certified Mr Ogeto’s application as urgent, allowing it to be considered ex parte in the first instance before directing that the respondents and interested parties be served with the application and the complaint.

The respondents have been given seven days from the date of service to file and serve their responses. Mr Ogeto has been allowed to file a further affidavit, if necessary, by November 19.

The matter is scheduled for an inter partes hearing on November 23, 2026, at 2.30pm, when the parties are expected to present their positions before the tribunal.

The dispute puts the ODM party leadership and the Nairobi County Assembly’s majority leadership structure at the centre of a legal battle. The tribunal’s temporary intervention effectively preserves Mr Ogeto’s position as Majority Whip until the application is heard and determined.

Last week, ODM national chairperson and Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga announced the changes affecting the Majority Party Whip position.

“I write on behalf of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to formally communicate changes in the leadership of the Majority Party Whip’s Office in the Nairobi City County Assembly,” Ms Wanga said.

She said the changes had been agreed after consultations and in accordance with the party’s internal procedures. She added that Mr Ogeto had shifted his political allegiance to another party, which necessitated the termination of his powers at City Hall under ODM.

Upper Savanna Ward MCA and Deputy Majority Party Whip Stazo Omung’ala Elijah Ang’ila has taken over the position. The party has also appointed Imara Daima MCA Evans Okaru Nyangicha as Deputy Majority Party Whip.

It also communicated the appointment of Catherine Apiyo Okoth as the Majority Party/Coalition representative to the Nairobi City County Assembly Service Board.

“This appointment follows changes in the political coalition arrangements arising from the withdrawal of ODM from the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party, as confirmed by the Registrar of Political Parties through a letter dated 11th June 2026, a copy of which is attached hereto for your reference,” the communication said.

Mr Ogeto, who has been an MCA since 2013 and is among the longest-serving members of the assembly, recently moved to Senator Sifuna’s Linda Mwananchi movement. He has said he will use the movement to seek the Dagoretti North seat in 2027, currently held by ODM’s Beatrice Elachi.

Mr Ogeto recently said he was ready for any step the party would take, maintaining that he was doing what the late ODM leader Raila Odinga wanted of leaders: serving the people and listening to their needs.

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