Busia Governor dares Ababu to deny him ODM nomination certificate in 2017

Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong

Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong has dared ODM Secretary General Ababu Namwamba to deny him a nomination certificate ahead of the 2017 elections.

Mr Ojaamong said this days after Mr Namwamba said the party will not give a nomination certificate to non-performing governors while presiding over a function in Busia.

Ojaamong said Namwamba had no powers to influence who receives the party certificate since it is solely the mandate of the elections board to which he is not part of.

“Ababu has been going around saying he will deny me an ODM ticket. I have been in politics for many years and he just joined politics recently. I have an upper hand to deny him and not vice versa,” he said.

Ojaamong was speaking at Namwamba’s Budalang’i backyard yesterday in a move that was seen as ‘a revenge mission’ following last weekend’s incident at Ojaamong’s Okiludu village where the governor was heckled.

In the meeting that was highly tensed with the presence of anti-riot police and hired youths, Ojaamong accused Namwamba of not appreciating his development record and barring him from engaging with Banyala people.

“We want to bring development yet he is all over fighting us. Tell him I will continue visiting Budalang'i and he should be consulting with me if he too visits my backyard,” said Ojaamong.

Last weekend, Ababu accused Ojaamong of failing to address interests of the Busia people.

Speaking in Okiludu Teso South Sub-county metres away from Ojaamong’s home, Namwamba said ODM as a party will not give direct nominations to leaders who have failed to fulfill the party’s development manifesto.

“As ODM secretary general I will not support a governor who has not delivered. The issue of voting three or six piece in Busia County is something of the past," said Namwamba.