Three MPs drop bids for ODM seats

Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura (second left) addresses the Press at Parliament Buildings Tuesday after dropping his bid for the ODM Secretary General post in the forthcoming party elections. [PHOTO: BONIFACE OKENDOI/STANDARD]

By Geoffrey Mosoku and James Mbaka

Kenya: Three MPs from Luo Nyanza who had intended to vie for top positions in the forthcoming ODM elections withdrew their bids amid reports they had bowed to pressure from party leader Raila Odinga.

Sources said Raila, the former Prime Minister, made it clear to the MPs from the region that ODM was a national party and those who wished to vie should not campaign on grounds that the party belongs to Nyanza.

Although Raila has not directly asked them to quit, it’s understood that he has snubbed most of those who were campaigning on the platform of Nyanza getting the lion’s share of slots in the Orange party.

“What some of these leaders did was to disenfranchise themselves from the ODM leadership and membership by campaigning on a Luo platform and that is what Raila does not want to associate with,” a senior ODM figure said. 

Owing to this pressure, some of the current officials, including Secretary General Anyang’ Nyong’o, announced that they would not be defending their seats.

And yesterday, Rongo MP Dalmas Otieno, hitherto an ally of the ex-PM, sent a two-line statement to media houses announcing his decision not to vie for any seat following “wishes of the party leadership”. He is currently the treasurer of ODM. 

Gwasi MP John Mbadi, who was also eyeing the secretary general position, also indicated that he would not be presenting himself as a candidate during the National Delegates Conference (NDC) next month.

And yesterday evening, Kisumu Central MP Ken Obura called a Press conference at Parliament Buildings in the company of his colleagues from Nyanza to announce his withdrawal from the race for the secretary general position.

MPs Millie Odhiambo (Mbita), Silvance Osele (Kabondo Kasipul), David Ochieng (Ugenya), Ken Okoth (Kibra), Jared Kopiyo (Awendo) had earlier been with Obura at the Mayfair Hotel in Nairobi before going to Parliament.

The youthful MPs are among those who have been vocal in pushing for leadership change in the party.  

“I have withdrawn my candidature because of party interests. The party is bigger than any one person,” Obura said.

This came even as Orange House announced that 2,854 delegates will be eligible to participate in the polls, with the party seeking about Sh40 million to fund the two-day NDC scheduled to begin on February 28.

The party has planned a fundraiser on February 6 at a city hotel. Usually, political parties use money raised from membership contributions, subscriptions and funds allocated from the political parties kitty.

However, the courts stopped the disbursement of the funds until a case challenging the sharing formula is heard and determined. 

The delegates, among them 17 governors and 16 senators elected through the ODM ticket, are set to choose by secret ballot fresh leaders to steer the party towards the 2017 General Election.