Ababu Namwamba,the Ambassador of Kenya to Uganda replaced by Senator Sifuna as ODM secretary general …Photo /courtesy

By James Saisi /IP

There are politicians who fall victim to circumstance; and then there are those who draft the blueprints, approve the budget, supervise construction — and personally cut the ribbon at their own downfall.

ODM leader Edwin Sifuna appears determined to graduate with honors in the second category.

For years, Sifuna perfected the fine art of political demolition — usually directed at fellow Luhya leaders.

Unfortunately, history has a sense of humor and sometimes, it forwards old speeches back to the sender.

When the ODM mafia  came for Musalia Mudavadi in 2012, Sifuna was not exactly charitable.

He reportedly dismissed Mudavadi as an “inconsequential leech,” allegedly surviving on Raila Odinga’s political goodwill without adding measurable value to the arrangement. It was less diplomacy, more pest control.

Mudavadi, as it turned out, survived the alleged “leech” diagnosis ,is now the Prime cabinet secretary in Ruto’s government and is still very much in circulation.

When they came for  Ambassador to Uganda Ababu Namwamba in 2016, Sifuna did not waste time composing sympathy messages.

He moved with Olympic speed, declared himself Secretary General of ODM, and waited for party organs to ratify what he had already decided. Efficiency is a virtue, after all.

Ababu left and joined President Ruto.He became the CS for Sports and now the Ambassador.Sifuna rose. The wheel kept turning.

Then came 2018, when Speaker of the National Assembly Dr. Moses Wetang’ula was dramatically removed as Senate Minority Leader in the NASA coalition reshuffle. Wetang’ula warned ominously:

“It will be messy, noisy, chaotic… and there will be casualties.”

Sifuna and company reportedly treated that declaration as background noise — a “storm in a cup of tea.”Tea was served. Laughter followed.

Fast forward; Wetang’ula joined the Ruto coalition. Raila Odinga eventually found himself navigating new political terrain and suddenly, the prophecy didn’t sound so theatrical anymore.

Now — plot twist — they have come for Sifuna.

The cheering squad is noticeably thin. The social media hashtags are loud but seasonal. The solidarity statements are enthusiastic but suspiciously cosmetic — the kind that come with invisible footnotes and future invitations to “consultative meetings.”

Politics, like architecture, is about foundations and Sifuna may now be discovering that mockery is not reinforced concrete.

The same political ecosystem that once amplified his sharp wit now hums with measured silence.

Those who defended him yesterday are calculating tomorrow. Those applauding him today may simply be preparing to inherit the microphone.

When the social media adrenaline wears off — as it always does — the trending topic will shift. Kenyans will move on to the next outrage, the next reshuffle, the next political cliffhanger.

And Sifuna may find himself in the quiet aftermath, confronting the one opponent he did not anticipate: accumulated irony.

In politics, doors rarely slam. They are usually closed gently — by the same hands you once clapped for.

The architect, it seems, forgot to design an emergency exit.