Saturday, August 6, 2011

Raila to meet city leaders over mayoral poll

By CASPER WAITHAKA cwaithaka@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, August 5  2011 at  22:00

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Prime Minister Raila Odinga will meet Nairobi city ODM councillors to try and resolve an impasse in nominating the party’s flag bearer in the forthcoming mayoral elections.
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The party is expected to hold nominations this weekend in Naivasha but a camp allied to acting mayor George Aladwa wants him confirmed to the seat.
Former mayor Geophrey Majiwa has been coordinating the party after he was elected as chairman to ensure it clinches the seat.
He was informing councillors yesterday of the meeting which is scheduled for 10am.
Clr Oscar Lore said they were upbeat about the meeting and that he was optimistic that the resolution would be democratic.
“The moral support from the PM would also come in handy,” he added.
Three councillors have stepped down in their quest to clinch the seat. They are William Kinyanyi, Elisha Otieno and Michael Ogada.
Mr Aladwa has said, “I have been in probation for the last six months and my work speaks for itself and it is time I get confirmed to the job.”
However, his sole challenger, Mr Simba Arati, is adamant that nominations must take place for the best candidate to clinch the ticket.
“This is in the interest of democracy which our party ODM stands for,” he said.
Mr Arati is campaigning aggressively, even offering councillors a fully paid business trip to China which he says is meant to empower them.
“I am gunning for this seat to ensure this council gets a leader who is capable of empowering and delivering to the expectation,” he added.
He said that if Mr Aladwa trounced him in the polls, he would fully support him.
Mr Arati has been approached by Regional Development minister Fred Gumo to step aside for Mr Aladwa.
In the PNU camp, Clr Benard Mutura has been campaigning despite having lost in the nominations he claims were not fairly done.
His chief strategist, Clr George Wanjohi, said they had 18 councillors on their side and they would have a running mate from the ODM camp.

“We have our cards under the table and we are confident that we will clinch the seat,” he added.
Clr James Gakuya a close ally of Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta is the PNU nominee.

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