Edwin Sifuna: Inside the witty mastery, mystery, methodology and magnificence of a Super Senator

In a little over a year, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has morphed from a gritty Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party backroom politico to a fierce defender of the people and an unabating thorn in the flesh of the beleaguered Kenya Kwanza administration.

Sifuna, one of opposition honcho Raila Odinga's most trusted henchmen and a thoroughbred politician in his own right, easily trounced his closest rival in the Nairobi Senatorial race, garnering a handsome 716,651 votes.

Soon after clinching the seat, Sifuna took to the podium to pledge his willingness to immediately get down to work, telling a packed crowd of supporters: "I want to thank all of you, the people of Nairobi, for honouring me with this position and I want to assure you that you know my capacity, my work and my ability. I will serve you diligently every day that I wake up… sitawaangusha."

The Deputy Minority Whip of the Kenyan Senate ascended rapidly through the ODM structures, clawing his way into the Secretary General position in 2018, just five years after joining CORD/NASA as a technical/advisory committee member.

An astute lawyer, brilliant politician and proficient public speaker, Sifuna brought along a midas touch not seen since the heady days of James Orengo and Martin Shikuku.

Not just content with sitting on his laurels, the man went to work - He took on the ODM Secretary General role like a typhoon, making his presence felt, eruditing the masses, fiercely guarding the ODM monarchy and pedantically restructuring the Kenyan political sphere, one day at a time.

Unlike politicians with a penchant to spew thoughtless rubbish at public rallies, Sifuna made it his business to remaster the game, ensuring that ODM's presence was not just felt but was also nationally respected, wooing the young and old with his witticism and unparalleled political sophistication.

As the main - and mostly sober - voice of the ODM party, Sifuna shone even brighter, becoming a stupendous master of realpolitik - armed with a notion of strategy that was, in turn, informed by a concept of national interest. 

Unafraid of the dirt, Sifuna thrust himself into the sewers of the broken Kenyan politics, ready to brave not just the smell but the rot, too.

Even in fiery times, in times of insurmountable challenges and scarlet-hot politicking, Sifuna still came off as a cool deliberator, a fluent communicator and a lawyer with a hunger for constitutional expertise and little interest in abstraction.

In 2019, at a funeral in Malindi, Sifuna and now Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa clashed publicly after the ODM Secretary General tore into the former Malindi lawmaker after her expulsion from the opposition party.

"As the Secretary General I have a job, I don’t do it targeting anyone, the party laws were not made by me; whoever goes against them faces disciplinary action!” said Sifuna as Jumwa looked on.

Irked by his sentiments, Jumwa, who had been inviting political leaders to speak, interrupted Sifuna and told him to stop politicising the funeral and look for an ODM platform if he wanted to raise party issues.

“Mheshimiwa Sifuna with all due respect where you have reached you should stop, we are not here for politics, respect the Mijikenda please," she said.

Drama erupted. Microphones went silent. And then back on. Jumwa dashed to the dais and grabbed the microphone from Sifuna's hands.

After the burial, a calm Sifuna told journalists he did not react to Jumwa because Luhya customs "do not allow men to hit back at women."

In the same year, while describing then Deputy President William Ruto as a liar, Sifuna, on behalf of ODM, refuted claims that party boss Odinga attempted to reach a deal with the DP before the handshake with Uhuru Kenyatta.

"Even if Ruto was the last human being left standing in this land, Odinga would much rather make a deal with the birds and trees, but not a character like William Ruto,” Orange House said in a statement by Sifuna.

But in a swift rejoinder, Ruto, through his spokesman, dismissed Sifuna's statement as personal.

"The incoherent, rabid juvenile rant by Sifuna is [so] ridiculously uneducated, spectacularly unhinged, desperately delusional that out of our compassion, it must be forgiven and ignored. We don't believe that ODM, even in its current dire straits, has fallen this low," he said.

A ferocious Odinga adherent, Sifuna ensured that the ODM communique was always not just swiftly delivered but also meticulously so. He feared no one - and took all the bulls by their horns, ready not just to be gored but ready for bloodshed, too.

On TV, his unmatched briliance shone like a lone star in the night. At every televised debate he was invited to, Sifuna brought along an elegant verbal jousting that badly eviscerated his opponents, his sapient articulation leaving them stumped in world-weary bemusement.

In heated debates, which sometimes degenerated into badgering, heckling, taunting and sniping, Sifuna remained level-headed, silently but mercilessly butchering anyone across his seat with rapier-like wit and an unprecedented mastery of righteous governance.

No one could hold a candle to him - Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has, by now, felt the absolute burn of an unfiltered Sifuna arson attack.

On February 1, for instance, it was Tana River Senator Danson Mungatana's turn to catch the heat from Sifuna's firebombs.

While admonishing him for not “respecting his elders,” Mungatana repeatedly took issue with Sifuna's cavalier use of the word 'liar' in reference to President Ruto.

"Let us be parliamentary..." Mungatana said.

"We are not in Parliament, we are on TV!" Sifuna retorted, adding; "(Speaker) Kingi is not here to protect you. This is not your show. The word lie is in the English language..."

And when Mungatana told him to respect his elders, drawing from his Pokomo customs, Sifuna had some juicier words to share:" We are not here under Pokomo customary law. The President is not a Pokomo. Take your Pokomo customary laws back to Garsen. I will not sit and listen to Ruto's lies."

It was then Dadaab MP Farah Maalim's turn to be thrown into the guillotine.

"I will not take advise from Farah Maalim. Telling me to go slow because my wings will fall off. They're my wings! Let them fall off. Leave the law to the lawyers. You are speaking from a position of severe ignorance... " an unhinged Sifuna told a cornered Maalim.

Sifuna's memorable one-liners have now won the internet with many praising the Senator for his steadfastness, staunch adherence to the law, dedication to his office and unyielding tenacity in the fight for the common mwananchi.

And when Millicent Omanga dared the Nairobi Senator to a TV duel, thousands cautioned her against driving into an abyss.

"Dear @MillicentOmanga, if you are truly prepared to face Super Senator Edwin Sifuna live on air, ensure you have the following: 1. An ambulance 2. Drinking water 3. Wipes...Because it won't be business as usual..." someone commented.

Sifuna has mastered the art of mopping the floor with some of the brainiest chaps in town. He has also not just become the undefeated champion of the game of wits but also the uncrowned emperor of the sovereign Kenyan people.