During the Murang’a ODM delegates' meeting Ms Wanjiru told the delegates to prepare to travel to Kasarani to nominate their flagbearer. Photo/FILE
By PATRICK NZIOKA pnzioka@ke.nationmedia.com and SAMUEL KARANJA samkache@gmail.com
Posted Saturday, March 24 2012 at 22:30
Posted Saturday, March 24 2012 at 22:30
IN SUMMARY
- Analysts say part of the reason is because ODM lacks leaders in the region
ODM party leader Raila Odinga and his deputy Musalia Mudavadi will have to wait a little longer to tell who will clinch the backing of the party’s Central Kenya delegates.
The two leaders have spent the past few weeks seeking support among the delegates who have been left more divided and uncertain about the best contender to back than they were before both candidates for the party’s presidential nomination started wooing the region.
For now, they seem to be playing their cards close to their chests if the mixed signals they have been sending out during those meetings are anything to go by.
Part of the reason, observers say, is because ODM lacks political leaders within its ranks from the region who can whip the delegates to go in a certain direction. The area is dominated by the PNU with President Mwai Kibaki and his deputy Uhuru Kenyatta holding sway.
As a result, the PM has resorted to using Kikuyu MPs in his party like assistant minister Bishop Margaret Wanjiru and party operatives like Mumbi Ng’aru to drum up support among the delegates.
The two will, however, have an uphill task as they are considered to be political lightweights and outsiders in the region.
While Mr Mudavadi has met the delegates county by county, the Prime Minister transported the 1,800 delegates to the Murang’a Teachers’ College. Deliberations in such meetings have been dominated by the question of the mode of identifying the party’s presidential candidate.
Surprisingly, the delegates have promised support to both candidates and their preferred mode of nominations leaving observers guessing which way they would vote when they converge in Nairobi to decide on the matter.
The Sunday Nation learnt that during his meeting with the party delegates, the PM held a closed-door meeting with the county officials before he met all the delegates in an open forum.
During the closed-door session, the delegates complained to him they were not happy with the manner in which they were treated during the last national delegates’ conference at the Bomas of Kenya, saying they were reluctant to travel to Nairobi for fear of receiving the same treatment.
They further complained they had not benefited from the PM’s mkate nusu, saying they were not considered for jobs in ministries allocated to ODM in the coalition government. Lastly, they demanded the PM meet the delegates separately in their counties just like his deputy was doing.
Those who attended the meeting and to whom the Sunday Nation spoke said the PM apologised to the delegates for the treatment and promised that it would never happen again.
He further promised to look into the issue of jobs, leaving observers to raise questions on what he can do to appease the delegates now that elections are around the corner.
In addition, the PM told the officials that the issue of the mode of nominating the presidential candidate will be determined during the upcoming national conference.
While the PM has been conciliatory towards Mr Mudavadi’s effort to fight for the party’s ticket, observers have questioned whether such signals were sincere following the audacity with which some of those accompanying the PM tore into Mr Mudavadi.
During the Murang’a meeting, for instance, Ms Wanjiru categorically told the delegates to prepare to travel to Kasarani to nominate their flagbearer because the rules will not be changed to allow the nominations at the counties as preferred by Mr Mudavadi.
Bishop Wanjiru dismissed the possibility of amending the party’s constitution to allow for the county delegates nomination process, and in a bare-knuckled attack on Mr Mudavadi said Mr Odinga would be the sole ODM candidate. She cautioned Mr Mudavadi to go slow in his bid for the party’s presidential bid.
“Raila Odinga is the ODM party leader and, according to the Constitution, he is equally the sole presidential candidate, I don’t see the possibility of amending our constitution as this will take a lot of time. We will only nominate through the national delegates system and nobody should deceive you that there will be any other process,” she told the delegates from five counties in Central Kenya.
She said the PM had fought hard to create and nurture the party.
Nyeri county ODM chairperson John Wang’ondu played down such assertions saying everyone is entitled to their opinion. The matter, he said, will be determined at the upcoming delegates conference. To him, the nomination can take place in the grassroots just like it is the case during the elections.
“I do not see the difference between the nominations and the General Election. If we will elect the President at the grassroots, likewise we can nominate the flagbearer the same way,” he said. (READ: Raila allies soften stance, open talks with Mudavadi camp)
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