Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has publicly linked his political fallout with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to the death of Albert Ojwang while in police custody.
Speaking at a Linda Mwananchi Movement rally in Nyandiwa, Homa Bay County, Sifuna revealed that tensions within ODM began when police officers from Nairobi arrested Ojwang in Homa Bay on June 7, 2025.
Ojwang, a teacher and social media commentator, was detained over posts concerning then Deputy Inspector General of Police Eliud Lagat. He was later found unconscious in his cell in Nairobi and died at Mbagathi Hospital. A postmortem indicated severe head trauma, strangulation injuries, and other physical abuse, prompting an ongoing investigation by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and legal proceedings in the High Court.
Sifuna stated that his association with ODM ended the day Ojwang was taken into custody and subsequently died, noting that he had previously committed to UDA leaders to halt the killing of young people. He said, "Because we had signed an agreement with people from UDA that the killing of young people would stop, the day they killed Ojwang, I said that was the day I would no longer associate myself with oppressors. That is why you saw them remove me as your Secretary-General."
During the rally, Sifuna commended Nyandiwa residents for dismantling roadblocks along the Linda Mwananchi convoy’s path, despite earlier confrontations where police used tear gas to disperse protesters attempting to block the motorcade in Ndhiwa.
