Jitters in ODM as Wiper eyes more seats in Nairobi in 2017

Out of 17 constituencies, ODM has eight seats compared to nine held by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka. Plans by Wiper party to field more candidates in ward and parliamentary elections in Nairobi in 2017 have sent ODM into panic mode as fear of political cannibalism begins to set in. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Plans by Wiper party to field more candidates in ward and parliamentary elections in Nairobi in 2017 have sent ODM into panic mode as fear of political cannibalism begins to set in.

Nairobi Wiper branch chairman and deputy governor Jonathan Mweke told the Sunday Nation that they want to increase their numbers in the county assembly from the current two.

A Cord strategy document classifies Nairobi as a battleground, meaning no single party affiliated to the coalition can claim monopoly when it comes to fielding candidates.

“We want more MPs and MCAs in the city come 2017,” the deputy governor said.

Wiper has no MP both in the National Assembly and the senate from Nairobi since all the candidates it fielded in the last elections lost in what party insiders attribute to the fact that Cord parties failed to reach a consensus in a number of constituencies ending up eating into each other’s turfs and giving the Jubilee opponents an advantage.

TENSION DOWNPLAYED
Former Nairobi mayor George Aladwa for instance lost to TNA’s Benson Mutura who got 37,644 votes compared to 36,079 votes he polled in Makadara Constituency.

Had Wiper’s Lyndy Wafula not contested, 7,456 votes she attracted could have probably gone to Mr Aladwa, the current ODM branch chairman.

Out of 17 constituencies, ODM has eight seats compared to nine held by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s TNA.

Mr Aladwa on is part downplays the tension likely to arise from such renaissance explaining that they are not in competition with Wiper.

“All of us must put their houses in order. Just like if you have been keen, you must have realised that we are doing a lot of grass root mobilisation that targets to increase ODM members in Nairobi, it is quite in order for Wiper and even Ford-Kenya to do that to boost our chances of clinching the presidency in 2017,” said Mr Aladwa who expected to recapture his seat in the upcoming ODM polls.

Last weekend, party leader Kalonzo Musyoka opened Wiper’s Nairobi branch offices in an event that saw members calling on the Orange party to treat them as an equal partner in the running of city political affairs, sentiments that have been interpreted as aimed at Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero who is facing accusations of sidelining Mr Mweke.

Mr Mweke belongs to Wiper while Dr Kidero is a member of ODM.

Like many governors and their deputies, the marriage between Dr Kidero and his deputy was a forced one especially because it was a compromised list by the two parties affiliated to Cord.

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