The Nairobi Senator took to social media to reveal how the choice to pull Raila Odinga from the 2017 repeat presidential election was actually reached inside that room. It is the kind of account that does not come out often, and when it does, it tends to make people uncomfortable.
Here is what happened. When the moment came to formally commit to the withdrawal, the politicians present did what politicians do best under pressure.
They reframed the situation. This was not a political decision anymore it was a legal one. And legal decisions, naturally, belonged to the lawyers. Let them sign. Let them own it.
Sifuna was direct about what that maneuvering actually was. Not strategy. Not process. Just people getting out of the way before the weight landed on them.
So the lawyers signed. But somebody had to go first.
Orengo did not wait to be pushed. The most senior lawyer in that room looked at the document, put his name on it, and that was that. No theatrics. No checking to see whether anyone else was moving. He signed, and the rest followed.
Three words from Sifuna captured it all. Orengo is solid.
Real character rarely announces itself. It does not show up at rallies or during televised interviews where the lighting is good and the answers are prepared. It shows up in moments like that one a room full of people looking for softer ground while one person plants his feet and does not move.
The 2017 withdrawal still divides opinion in Kenya. Some believe it was a masterstroke. Others think it handed Uhuru Kenyatta a victory he did not earn on merit. That argument will likely run for years.
But Sifuna was not reopening that debate. He was telling a smaller, sharper story about what happened when the moment required someone to step forward and nearly everyone in the room took a step back.
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