ODM Secretary-General Edwin Sifuna has called on the national government to honor the late Rt. Hon. Raila Amollo Odinga by addressing a long-standing issue of political party funding, which he says remains one of the causes the late opposition leader championed throughout his political life.
Speaking on Monday during the ODM Central Committee press briefing, Sifuna said that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is owed billions of shillings in political party remittances and urged the government to release the funds as a fitting tribute to Raila’s memory.
“We wish to appeal to the national government that the constitutional provision for the funding of political parties is a yawning gap that has seen ODM owed billions in political party remittance,” Sifuna stated.
We believe that the best way for the national government to honor the late Raila is to release the money to the party so that our programs can run and the legacy of our leader can remain secure,” he added.
Honoring Raila Through Democratic Ideals
Sifuna reminded the government that Raila Odinga was a foremost democrat who fought to ensure that political parties remain independent and adequately funded to avoid undue state interference.
“Indeed, as the foremost democrat in this country, Raila had fought tirelessly for political party funding as a safeguard against state interference, and it is only fair that his memory be sanctified by the expediting of pending issues for which he sought solutions,” he added.
The Secretary-General noted that implementing this constitutional obligation would not only uphold the principles Raila stood for but also strengthen Kenya’s multiparty democracy, a key pillar of the late leader’s legacy.
The ODM leadership has maintained that honoring Raila Odinga’s lifelong struggle for democracy, justice, and institutional integrity requires more than symbolic gestures and demands the fulfillment of the very reforms he fought to actualize.
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