Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has dismissed claims by some leaders that he is a mole for former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, describing the allegations as politically motivated and baseless.
Speaking in an interview at Citizen TV, Sifuna said the notion that he could act as anyone’s mole was “absurd.”
“I’m too big to be anyone’s mole. People should be Sifuna’s moles,” he said, challenging critics to explain what being Gachagua’s mole actually means in the context of Kenyan politics.
Sifuna traced the origin of such claims to long-standing party practices. “You know, this thing about moles in ODM, it’s old. It’s an old story, going back to even when the party was formed. And for as long as you don’t agree with a certain position, you are branded a mole. And it is quite interesting,” he said.
The controversy, he explained, flared after he coincidentally ran into Gachagua at a funeral.
“I had these conversations ramp up after I ran into Gachagua at a funeral. And it was a funeral for a parent of a member of parliament from Nairobi,” Sifuna said.
He emphasised that attending funerals is a matter of solidarity rather than political alignment.
“Here in Nairobi, we have always stood with each other. I have lost people in my family. All these members of parliament in Nairobi came to bury Uncle Lawrence. We went to Gakuya’s parents’ burial as well, in Nyeri,” he added.
Sifuna recalled his first encounter with the then deputy president at a funeral in Nyeri, describing it as a routine social obligation.
“In fact, that burial of Gakuya’s… it was the first time I met Gachagua, and he was the deputy president then. So if there is a guest list for funerals, let them tell us. But you are not going to stop me from attending a burial of a colleague when a colleague has been bereaved, just because Gachagua is going to be there. I will go to that burial, you know?”
He dismissed the accusations as part of a political strategy.
“For me, really, I expect this, because as I have told you, we have won every argument in the party. The argument they are saying is coming, is a physical war. You understand? So they have to look for excuses, and you know what they say, give a dog a bad name and hang it. You know, it’s politics, this is kawaida. But I am used to it, I’m prepared,” Sifuna said.
Sifuna also credited party leader the late Raila Odinga for advising him to develop resilience against criticism.
“Raila said something to me very profound. He said, Sifuna, even you must learn to have a thick skin, because all these people are going to say all these things about you. Even after he gave his own life story, he told me, do you realise that the name Raila, like he was one of the most insulted politicians. They said all sorts of things about it, and it was incessant, it was daily,” Sifuna said.
He recalled how media scrutiny has long been part of political life.
“Out of the seven newspapers we sell in the country in a week, Monday to Monday, four of them had Raila on the headline. Some of them said true things, some of them said things that were not true. So he said, you must accept that in your position, and he told me specifically, that in your position as SG, first you must accept that you will be criticised. You will be called names. They will spread rumours about you. They will say things about you that are not true. But you must remain focused,” Sifuna said.
He concluded by underlining his commitment to the party’s values. “And the focus, the North Star for us, is those values that we have spoken about,” he said.
by PURITY WANGUI
