Former MP for Bungoma South dies
Former MP for Bungoma South dies
Former MP for Bungoma South dies
Lawrence Sifuna, a member of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) who first represented the Bumula Constituency and then the Bungoma South Constituency, passed away on Sunday. ODM expressed its condolences in a statement to the late MP’s nephew, the Party’s Secretary General Edwin Sifuna.
“Sifuna was an ODM party life member. According to ODM, he was once an MP for both Bumula and Bungoma South Constituency, which is now Kanduyi. During the 1980s rule of former President Daniel Moi, the late Sifuna was a member of the Left Wing Members of Parliament, for which she is warmly known.
Together with six other liberal parliamentarians, they were referred to as the Seven Bearded Sisters by colleagues in the August House. “I have a fairly famous Uncle. Even during the tough Nyayo era, he and 6 other MPs stood firm in defence of the people and what was right. Just 7 people with “beards” and a resolve,” Edwin Sifuna in the past explained how his uncle acquired the nickname.
The late Lawrence Sifuna was a ferocious opponent of Charles Njonjo, the country’s attorney general at the time, and other Moi regime figures whom he charged with breaching Kenyans’ fundamental human rights. Koigi wa Wamwere, James Orengo, Abuya Abuya, Chibule wa Tsuma, Onyango Midika, Mwashengu wa Mwachofi, and Philomena Chelang’at Mutai are some of the other bearded sisters. James Orengo, the governor of Siaya at the moment, is the only bearded sister still involved in politics. 1946-born Lawrence Sifuna was first elected to the legislature in 1979, serving as the Bungoma South Constituency representative.
Prior to losing his seat in 1988, when the constituency was renamed Kanduyi, he held office for two terms.Having been out of politics for five years, he was able to reclaim his seat in 1992 thanks to a Ford Asili ticket.Wafula Wamunyinyi, who was elected on the Ford Kenya ticket, succeeded the MP in the 1997 general election.
Edwin Sifuna made an unsuccessful attempt to remove Wamunyinyi as Kanduyi MP in 2017. Later on, in the general election of 2022, he would go on to win the Nairobi senatorial seat. Even after stepping away from politics in his latter years, Lawrence Sifuna continued to play a significant role in Bungoma’s political landscape.
