Edwin Sifuna

Last updated

The Honourable
Edwin Sifuna
Senator of Nairobi City County
Assumed office
8 Sept 2022
Personal details
Born
Edwin Watenya Sifuna

(1982-05-22) 22 May 1982 (age 42)
Kakamega, Kenya
Political party ODM
Alma mater University of Nairobi (LL.B)
Kenya School of Law (KSL. Dip Law)
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionLawyer
Website edwinsifuna.com

Edwin Watenya Sifuna (born 22 May 1982) is a Kenyan politician and the current Senator of Nairobi County after being elected in the 2022 Kenyan general election. [1] [2] He is the Secretary-General of the ODM Party and the deputy minority whip in the Senate of Kenya. [3]

Contents

Education

Sifuna started his formal education at Kakamega Township Primary School and later on joined Musingu High School where he sat for his KCSE exams. Thereafter, he pursued a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Nairobi graduating in 2006. After receiving his Post Graduate Diploma from the Kenya School of Law in 2007, Sifuna did his pupilage at Kairu & McCourt Advocates in Nairobi and was thereafter admitted to the Roll of Advocates in 2008[ citation needed ].

Political career

In 2013, Sifuna became a member of CORD as a Technical/Advisory Committee Member for three years before joining NASA in the same capacity. In the 2017 Kenyan general election, Edwin Sifuna expressed his interest to vie [4] for the Kanduyi Constituency Member of Parliament seat on an ODM Party ticket. He was however not successful during the primaries in April where he lost to John Makali.

With only about two months to the general elections in August, ODM fronted [5] Sifuna as their preferred candidate to contest the Nairobi senatorial seat [6] then held by Mike Sonko. He polled 674,056 votes (42,51%) against winner Johnson Sakaja who got 811,826 votes (51,20%).

In February 2018, Sifuna was picked as the Secretary-General of ODM [7] party to replace Ababu Namwamba. [8] In 2019, he was elected to serve as the Vice-chair of the Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD).

In the 2022 Kenyan general election, Sifuna once again [9] [10] contested the Nairobi Senatorial seat. [11] He garnered 716,876 to clinch the seat [12] [13] and is now serving the people of Nairobi as their senator. In February 2023, he assumed the role of deputy minority whip in the Senate. [14]

Personal life

Edwin Sifuna was born on 22 May 1982, at St. Mary's Hospital in Mumias, Kakamega County. His father was a civil servant with the defunct Municipal Council and his mother, a now-retired teacher from Moi Primary School in Bungoma. He has two brothers and two sisters. He is married [15] with a daughter.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amos Wako</span> Attorney General of Kenya

Amos Wako is a former Attorney General of Kenya and the first senator for Busia County from 2013 to 2017. Wako won the senatorial seat after defeating former minister of finance Chris Okemo. He won the senator seat on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) being led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Wako currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Committee of Constitutional Experts for Drafting the EAC Political Federation Constitution, the committee drafting the constitution for the East African Confederation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forum for the Restoration of Democracy – Kenya</span> Political party in Kenya

Forum for the Restoration of Democracy–Kenya (FORD–Kenya) is a Kenyan political party. The party has sat in the government of Kenya once, under the National Rainbow Coalition, from 2003 to 2007, having ended forty years of one party rule. In April 2022, the party joined the Kenya Kwanza coalition for the August 2022 elections, and is headed by Moses Wetangula, the current speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya. The party tends to be more popular among the Luhya people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bungoma County</span> County in Kenya

Bungoma County is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya with its capital in Bungoma town. It has a population of 1,670,570 of which 812,146 are males and 858,389 are females as per the 2019 census and an area of 2,069 km2. It has nine constituencies, namely: Bumula, Kabuchai, Kanduyi, Kimilili, Mt. Elgon, Sirisia, Tongaren, Webuye East, and Webuye West.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement that was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in August 2007 into the Orange Democratic Movement Party of Kenya and the Wiper Democratic Movement – Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiper Democratic Movement – Kenya</span> Kenyan political party

The Wiper Democratic Movement–Kenya (WDM-K), formerly Orange Democratic Movement–Kenya (ODM–Kenya), is a political party in Kenya, which originated as a result of the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. The party tends to be more popular among the Kamba people. It is headed by Kalonzo Musyoka, who ran for president in 2007 and served as the vice-president in the Grand Coalition of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. He is now a member of the main opposition Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moses Wetangula</span> 8th and Current Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya

Moses Francis Shoga Masika Wetang'ula, is the current Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya, as well as leader of the FORD-Kenya, arguably the most popular political party after ODM in Western Kenya. He served in the government of Kenya as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2010 and from 2011 to 2012, and he was Minister for Trade from 2012 to 2013.

Cyrus Shakhalaga Khwa Jirongo, popularly Cyrus Jirongo, is a politician and a former Member of Parliament in Kenya. Between 1978 and 1981 he went to Mang'u High School. He became the chairman of AFC Leopards football club in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ababu Namwamba</span> Kenyan Resident from Budalangi

Ababu NamwambaE.G.H. is a Kenyan politician and Cabinet secretary for Youth Affairs, Sports and the Arts, having been appointed by President William Ruto. He is an international lawyer trained in Nairobi and Washington, DC. Since 2016 he has been the leader of the Labour Party of Kenya. Ababu is also the immediate Former Chief Administrative Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya.

Amason Kingi Jeffah is a Kenyan politician currently serving as the Speaker of the Senate of Kenya. He is a member of the Pamoja African Alliance party, which he founded, and the Kenya Kwanza alliance. He served as the first governor of Kilifi County from 2013 to 2022, having been elected twice to the position.

Bonny Khalwale is a Kenyan politician, the current Senator for Kakamega County and a former medical doctor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sub-Counties of Kenya</span>

Sub-counties, also known as Districts, are the decentralised units through which government of Kenya provides functions and services. At national level, sub-counties take a more administrative function like security, statistical purposes, provision of government services, etc. Even though the sub-counties are divisions of counties, powers to create new national sub-counties lies with the national government. As of 2023, there are 314 sub-counties, compared to 290 constituencies. A deputy county commissioner is appointed by the state to lead each sub-county. The sub-counties are further divided into divisions, locations and sub-locations.

Lawrence Simiyu Sifuna was a Kenyan politician who was Member of Parliament for Bumula, the first MP of that constituency. He was first elected to the Kenyan Parliament on 8 November 1979 in the then larger Bungoma South constituency. Sifuna was re-elected in 1983 too. He lost to former North Eastern Provincial Commissioner Maurice Makhanu in the 1988 Kenyan general election after Bungoma South constituency was renamed Kanduyi. Sifuna recaptured the seat during the first multi-party 1992 Kenyan general election on a Ford Asili ticket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Wanyonyi</span> Kenyan lawyer and politician

Timothy Wanyonyi Wetangula is a Kenyan lawyer and politician serving as a member of parliament representing Westlands Constituency. He was first elected as a councillor for the defunct Nairobi City Council in 2007 election, before being elected Westlands MP during 2013 elections and defended his seat in the 2017 and 2022 general elections held on 8 August 2017 and 9 August 2022 respectively. He is a half-brother to Moses Wetangula, the Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya and former senator for Bungoma County. He is a member of the Orange Democratic Movement.

Johnson Arthur Sakaja is a Kenyan politician serving as the governor of Nairobi City County since 25 August 2022. Previously, he served as the Senator of Nairobi from 2017 to 2022, and as a nominated Member of the National Assembly from 2013 to 2017. He was nominated to Parliament by The National Alliance (TNA) party which was part of the ruling Jubilee Coalition. He was the National Chairman of The National Alliance (TNA) until 9 September 2016 when the party merged with 12 others to form the Jubilee Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Kenyan general election</span>

General elections were held in Kenya on Tuesday, 9 August 2022. Voters elected the president, governors, senators, members of the National Assembly, and members of county assemblies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenya Kwanza</span> Coalition of political groups in Kenya

Kenya Kwanza is a Kenyan political alliance currently headed by William Ruto. The political coalition currently holds a majority in both the National Assembly and Senate of Kenya. It was formed in the period leading up to the 2022 Kenyan general election, originally consisting of three parties: the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), Amani National Congress and FORD–Kenya. By 8 April 2022, several more political parties had joined the alliance, bringing the total number of constituent parties to 12. On 18 August 2022, a number of politicians from the United Democratic Movement announced they would be joining the alliance.

Wanjiru Mbugua-Karani is a former Kenyan Tennis player and captain now serving as the Secretary-General of Tennis Kenya, Team Kenya CEO to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Vice President of Confederation of African Tennis, and President of Eastern Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azimio la Umoja</span> Political party in Kenya

Azimio la Umoja–One Kenya Coalition Party, popularly referred as Azimio la Umoja, or simply Azimio, is a Kenyan political alliance and party headed by Raila Odinga. It is composed of the Orange Democratic Movement, the Jubilee Party, NARC–Kenya, KANU, and other parties. Former president Uhuru Kenyatta is the party's patron. The alliance fielded Odinga as its presidential candidate and Martha Karua as its deputy presidential candidate in the 2022 Kenyan election, which they lost.

Athanas Misiko Wafula Wamunyinyi is a Kenyan politician who is leader of the Democratic Action Party. He began his career in politics when he was elected as MP for Kanduyi Constituency in 1997. He was in his twenties at the time. Wamunyinyi was re-elected for the same seat in 2002. In the infamous 2007 elections he lost his seat but later re-emerged to serve another 2 consecutive terms from 2013 to 2022.

John Makali is a Kenyan politician from Ford-K who has been MP for Kanduyi Constituency since the 2022.

References

  1. ↑ Citizen Digital, 14 Aug 2022 Edwin Sifuna Floors Bishop Wanjiru To Win Nairobi Senator Seat
  2. ↑ "List of elected senators".
  3. ↑ The-Star, 15 Feb 2023 Sifuna lands deputy whip role in Senate as Azimio lash rebels
  4. ↑ The-Star, 12 Apr 2017 Sifuna, Makali battle for ODM Kanduyi ticket - The Star
  5. ↑ All Africa 6 May 2017 Why ODM Replaced Nairobi Senatorial Candidate
  6. ↑ Venas News, 1 Jun 2017 Edwin Sifuna and Johnson Sakaja, Who Will Win Nairobi Senatorial Seat?
  7. ↑ The-Star, 23 Dec 202 Edwin Sifuna's rise from high school cheerleader to ODM
  8. ↑ The Standard, Feb, 2018 ODM picks lawyer Sifuna as secretary general, replaces Ababu Namwamba
  9. ↑ The Standard, 16 Dec 2021 ODM’s Edwin Sifuna to vie for Nairobi Senate seat in 2022
  10. ↑ Capital FM, 16 Dec 2021 Sifuna Declares Senatorial Bid, Rules Out Candidacy In Native Bungoma
  11. ↑ Nation, 16 Dec 2021 Edwin Sifuna declares second bid for Nairobi Senate seat
  12. ↑ People Daily, 14 Aug 2022 Sifuna wins Nairobi senator race
  13. ↑ The-Star, 14 Aug 2022 ODM's Sifuna wins Nairobi senator seat
  14. ↑ Africa Press, 15 Feb 2023 Sifuna lands deputy whip role in Senate as Azimio lash rebels
  15. ↑ Standard, 22 Jul 2015 My future wife snubbed me in campus- High Court Advocate Edwin Sifuna
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.