BY people
FRIDAY, 4 JANUARY, 2013
FRIDAY, 4 JANUARY, 2013
US President’s grand- ma, Sarah calls for fair nominations for ODM, warns against favouring some candidates in strongholds
Prime Minister Raila Odinga yesterday faced pressure from an influential, but rare political voice, asking him not to impose ODM political aspirants on the electorate. United States president Barack Obama‘s grandmother, Sarah Obama, urged Raila to let voters elect candidates of their choice for electoral seats in the March 4 General Election.
She cautioned that any attempt to impose leaders on the people in ODM strongholds might work against his presidential bid nationally. “Long gone are the days when leaders would sit down and decide for the electorate the contenders whom
they should support,” the grandma, who lives in Kogelo, Obama’s fathers ancestral home, warned. Mama Sarah was speaking at her Kogelo home when she endorsed two aspirants, one for the Alego Usonga parliamen- tary seat and another for the Siaya women’s representative position.
She warned the Premier to learn from the mistakes of 2007 when his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) nominations were marred by massive irregularities in which certain candidates were reported to have been issued with certificates through the backdoor.
ODM candidates especially from the party’s Nyanza backyard have lately petitioned the party not to endorse any preferred candidates without a contest.
Last week, Nairobi gubernato- rial aspirant Evans Kidero called on Raila at the Orange party headquarters in Nairobi and asked him to ensure there were no special aspirants with reserved tickets.
Mama Sarah’s warning came as various political parties, including ODM and Eldoret North MP William Ruto moved their nomination exercises to January 17, the last day allowed by the electoral commission, in a bid to stem any possible defection of losers.
And the warning could be a wake-up call to the two leading alliances, Cord and deputy prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) that are currently confronted with a major challenge of managing the delicate balance of identifying the best candidates for various elective po
sitions. While fringe parties such as the Restore and Build Kenya (RBK) of Francis ole Kiyiapi, Raphael Tuju’s Party of Action and Prof Kivutha Kibwana’s Mazingira have been lying in wait to benefit from any possible fall out, major parties have been faced with accusations of attempting to plant candidates.
Uhuru, Raila and Ruto have been accused by their protagonists of favouring certain candidates in their Central, Nyanza and Rift Val- ley strongholds.
This has been the case for Raila in Siaya where his shadow is being seen over attempts to allegedly impose his elder brother Dr Oburu
Odinga for the gubernatorial seat. Similar claims have been repeated in Mombasa, Kisumu, Migori
and North Eastern province. In Central, TNA has on several occasions been forced to clear the air over claims that certain elective positions have been earmarked for certain candidates. The same allegations have been made against
Ruto’s URP. And faced with the threats of
losing some of their members over the anticipated hot nominations, ODM on Wednesday pushed its nominations date to January 17. URP followed suit yesterday. Like the ODM Elections Board chairman Franklin Bett, URP chairman Francis ole Kaparo said the decision to defer the nominations to the last day had been arrived at following President Kibaki’s assent to the amendments that allowed party hopping.
And sounding the warning against interference in the nominations exercise yesterday, Mama Sarah said Charles Mamba and a former Centre for Disease Control (CDC) programme coordinator Florence Alwodo for MP and women’s representative respectively, have the capacity to harness local resources for the benefit of the residents.
they should support,” the grandma, who lives in Kogelo, Obama’s fathers ancestral home, warned. Mama Sarah was speaking at her Kogelo home when she endorsed two aspirants, one for the Alego Usonga parliamen- tary seat and another for the Siaya women’s representative position.
She warned the Premier to learn from the mistakes of 2007 when his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) nominations were marred by massive irregularities in which certain candidates were reported to have been issued with certificates through the backdoor.
ODM candidates especially from the party’s Nyanza backyard have lately petitioned the party not to endorse any preferred candidates without a contest.
Last week, Nairobi gubernato- rial aspirant Evans Kidero called on Raila at the Orange party headquarters in Nairobi and asked him to ensure there were no special aspirants with reserved tickets.
Mama Sarah’s warning came as various political parties, including ODM and Eldoret North MP William Ruto moved their nomination exercises to January 17, the last day allowed by the electoral commission, in a bid to stem any possible defection of losers.
And the warning could be a wake-up call to the two leading alliances, Cord and deputy prime minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s The National Alliance (TNA) that are currently confronted with a major challenge of managing the delicate balance of identifying the best candidates for various elective po
sitions. While fringe parties such as the Restore and Build Kenya (RBK) of Francis ole Kiyiapi, Raphael Tuju’s Party of Action and Prof Kivutha Kibwana’s Mazingira have been lying in wait to benefit from any possible fall out, major parties have been faced with accusations of attempting to plant candidates.
Uhuru, Raila and Ruto have been accused by their protagonists of favouring certain candidates in their Central, Nyanza and Rift Val- ley strongholds.
This has been the case for Raila in Siaya where his shadow is being seen over attempts to allegedly impose his elder brother Dr Oburu
Odinga for the gubernatorial seat. Similar claims have been repeated in Mombasa, Kisumu, Migori
and North Eastern province. In Central, TNA has on several occasions been forced to clear the air over claims that certain elective positions have been earmarked for certain candidates. The same allegations have been made against
Ruto’s URP. And faced with the threats of
losing some of their members over the anticipated hot nominations, ODM on Wednesday pushed its nominations date to January 17. URP followed suit yesterday. Like the ODM Elections Board chairman Franklin Bett, URP chairman Francis ole Kaparo said the decision to defer the nominations to the last day had been arrived at following President Kibaki’s assent to the amendments that allowed party hopping.
And sounding the warning against interference in the nominations exercise yesterday, Mama Sarah said Charles Mamba and a former Centre for Disease Control (CDC) programme coordinator Florence Alwodo for MP and women’s representative respectively, have the capacity to harness local resources for the benefit of the residents.
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