Oburu Odinga Clarifies Notice Proposing Babu Owino as ODM Secretary General

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Oburu Odinga has dismissed a social media publication claiming that Embakasi East MP Babu Owino had been proposed for the party’s Secretary General (SG) role.

In a statement released on Thursday, March 19, Oburu called the publication fake, clarifying that he had not authorized it and that no newspaper had published such a notice.

“This publication is fake. As the Party Leader of ODM, I have not issued any such statement, and no such content has appeared in any newspaper,” Oburu said.

The notice, allegedly from the Daily Nation on Wednesday, March 18, went viral on Thursday morning after it was shared by Babu Owino himself.

The fake circular was said to notify ODM delegates about a planned National Delegates Conference (NDC) set for March 26. Among the items listed in the notice was a proposal to nominate Babu Owino as the party’s Secretary General, replacing Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna.

Babu Owino quickly responded to the report, rejecting the claim. He clarified that he is interested in becoming the ODM party leader, not Secretary General.

“I want to be the Party Leader, not Secretary General. The Secretary General remains Edwin Sifuna,” Babu stated on his social media accounts, sharing a photo of the fake notice.

The notice also mentioned other leadership changes that were supposedly to be discussed at the NDC.

This comes as ODM prepares to hold its first NDC since the death of its long-time leader, Raila Odinga. The official conference is scheduled for March 27.

However, the notice and the proposed NDC have been rejected by the Linda Mwananchi faction, led by Sifuna, which plans to hold a parallel meeting on the same day. This group argues that, under the party constitution, only the Secretary General has the power to call a delegates’ conference.

On the other hand, the Linda Ground faction maintains that the party constitution allows some flexibility in calling the NDC, and that the Secretary General’s role is only to notify members about the meeting.