Prime Minister Raila Odinga has stepped in to reconcile feuding factions within the ODM Nairobi branch. The PM convened a meeting at his office on Tuesday evening, where he prevailed upon Housing assistant minister Margaret Wanjiru to accept the chairmanship of Nairobi mayor Geourge Aladwa. The meeting at the PM’s office was attended by Aladwa, Wanjiru, minister Fred Gumo and assistant minister Elizabeth Ongoro.
Raila cautioned the two camps that their continued wars were hurting the party’s popularity in the city. The Starehe MP has been disputing the election of Aladwa as Nairobi county chairman in an election she boycotted last November when she walked out of the polling centre at Charter Hall citing lack of transparency.
Wanjiru was then promised to be supported to capture a seat in the national secretariat of the party. Yesterday, she met delegates in her support and asked them to accept Aladwa’s leadership for the sake of the ODM unity. It is at the meeting that the PM asked Aladwa to convene a meeting of senior party official from the branch on Monday, where the reconciliation of the two camps will be cemented.
The meeting will be a precursor to another meeting to be held later where the PM will meet all the Nairobi branch delegates “Following my meeting with the PM yesterday, I hereby invite party officials to a brief meeting with the party leader to be held on Monday at the Strand Hotel, Ghandhi Road in Nairobi West,” an SMS sent to ODM officials by Aladwa read in part. All county officials, sub branch chairmen, subbranch secretaries and their organising secretaries have been invited to the meeting.
Meanwhile, officials of ODM from Western province who met the PM in Kisii on Sunday have refuted claims that the meeting was to undermine Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi. According to Vihiga county chairman Ken Butiko, the PM was well within his democratic right to hold the meeting.
Butiko who led seven ODM sub branch chairman to Kisii said they were there in their capacity as supporters of the PM and the meeting did not discuss Mudavadi. “I am the chairman of Mudavadi's Vihiga branch but support the PM and this is absolutely within my right,” he told the Star yesterday. Butiko added that ODM delegates were free to express their preference in the ODM and told off Mudavadi's supporters over claims that he was being used to fight the DPM.
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