DIRECT NOMINATION

South Mugirango ODM delegates on Friday asked the National Elections Board to grant Mr Omingo Magara direct nomination in the forthcoming by-election.

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The delegates, at the same time, accused NEB of making decisions without consulting the branch. They threatened to march to the party headquarters to compel NEB to give Mr Magara a direct ticket.

They warned two politicians from the region against meddling in the constituency’s affairs, saying the decision to elect a leader lay in the hands of the people of Mugirango.

Their views were in a statement read on their behalf by Mr Charles Ondiega, the South Mugirango ODM chairman, during a branch and sub-branch delegates’ conference at Nduru High School.

The delegates asked why the party would give the Matuga candidate a direct nomination and fail to do the same with Mr Magara, who is the party’s national treasurer.

“It is within the party’s constitution that only the National Executive Committee, in consultation with the National Elections Board, may grant direct nomination to a candidate, but this was not done in the Matuga case,” they argued.

The more than 160 delegates accused NEB of bias action in the case of South Mugirango constituency.

Disenfranchise

“We are surprised that NEB is being misled by some senior politicians in the party who want to disenfranchise the process by claiming that the constituency has no structures. We want to inform them that we are here and any attempts to meddle with the nominations will fail,” they said.

“The existing register that the party leadership is ignoring is the same that was used to elect the said leadership,” they added. They further claimed that political party funds meant for the South Mugirango branch were disbursed elsewhere due to negative perceptions. Campaigns for the by-election have started with hopefuls crisscrossing the constituency to woo voters.