How brokers, greedy ODM officials bungled elections

ODM supporters in Kabondo Kasipul Constituency protest against flawed nominations on Tuesday. [James Omoro, Standard]

Witty brokers, members of the Constituency Election Panels and returning officers may have capitalised on weak controls at the Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) elections board to mint millions of shillings from desperate aspirants in the chaotic party primaries.

Investigations by Sunday Standard has unearthed an intricate web of underhand deals that may have led to the shambolic ODM primaries that led to fall-outs and protests in its strongholds.

Cartels with connections to the headquarters used names of senior party officials to collect money from unsuspecting aspirants with promises that they would assist them get certificates. Armed with fake certificates, the brokers reached out to the aspirants, with some collecting up to Sh1 million in exchange of the documents. This explains why even those with disastrous performance were declared winners.

Confessions from aspirants who lost in the primaries, as well as returning officers, reveal that the chaotic elections may have been influenced in favour of the highest bidders.

At a polling station in Kajulu, Kisumu East Constituency, counting of votes went on for five days as the returning officers played hide-and-seek game with other angry aspirants.

Kisumu East parliamentary aspirant Kelvin Oselu claims that a junior ODM official was used to collect cash from aspirants with the promise that the highest bidder would be issued with the coveted certificate.

His claims were backed by other sources who claimed they gave out amounts as high as Sh200,000 and Sh300,000 to secure the tickets, some of  which turned out to be fake.

More cartels

And when they trooped to Nairobi after learning they had been duped, the aspirants ran into more cartels who operated between Orange House and the city centre.

Kisumu East returning officer Thomas Riaga says they operated in a dangerous and sensitive environment.

“We did not even know the tallying centres. There was no security and everyone claimed they were party officials,” says Riaga.

He says the county elections committee was also responsible for the disappearances of some presiding officers.

“Some of the officials had taken sides and were even moving around with a parliamentary aspirant who had guised himself as a member of the panel,” says Riaga.

A number of aspirants told Sunday Standard that they received several calls from people purporting to be from Orange House asking them to pay money before being given provisional certificates.

They said some of the certificates were issued to them through proxies along the streets of Nairobi, parks and hotels.

Kennedy Onyango, a Kisumu West parliamentary aspirant, said he received several calls from anonymous numbers asking him to pay money to be declared winner.

“I am ready to mention the names of top officials who I met in hotels and promised to give me the certificate if I parted with money,” said Onyango.

In the same constituency, an MCA aspirant in North Kisumu ward received two different certificates from the cartel after he parted with Sh100,000 for each.

Another sitting MP who is seeking re-election, but sought anonymity, said some aspirants were asked to part with about Sh200,000 but after paying, their opponents too were issued with similar tickets.

“Some of us were asked for Sh200,000. An official asked me to pay Sh300,000, but I told him I did not have the money,” said the MP.

In Kisumu Central Constituency, all four aspirants were declared winners and given provisional certificates. An aspirant for the seat, Richard Ogendo, blamed it on “greedy” returning officers.

Others aspirants were incumbent Ken Obura, Onyango Oloo and Fred Ouda.

Nyong’o’s camp

Kisumu Woman Rep Rose Nyamunga said a camp allied to Senator Anyang’ Nyong’o and Nyando MP Fred Outa ensured their preferred list won the nominations even if it meant kidnapping rerunning officers.

County returning officer Tom Okong’o said two deputy returning officers working under him mysteriously disappeared on the day of nominations, only to re-appear and announce another winner hours after the former had declared what he said were the official results.

He dismissed claims that he had been bribed to declare Nyong’o the winner.

The High Court in Nairobi has since ordered ODM to conduct repeat nominations in Kisumu on Tuesday.