Our attention has been drawn to a presser by a section of MPs from the Coast yesterday, in which they declared that they would cut links with ODM following the pattern of voting over the Revenue Sharing formula that was before the Senate earlier this week.
The first noticeable thing about this group was that there was no single Senator in it, meaning that the MPs were purporting to deal with a matter they had no business discussing. The second, and most obvious, is that a majority of the members who issued the statement are NOT even members of the ODM Party and the few who are have had long known leanings to the Tangatanga side of Kenyan politics, making their views very easy to contextualize.
It is public knowledge that the party expelled Hon. Aisha Jumwa, the MP for Malindi eons ago and she continues to fraudulently hang onto her seat only courtesy of a Court Order. She long severed ties with the ODM Party whilst still occupying a position of responsibility as commissioner in the PSC courtesy of the Party. She and her acolytes cannot therefore purport to cut links that don't exist.
There are many reasons that make ODM as a Party and Rt Hon Raila Odinga as its leader and the People's President, popular among the masses in the larger Coast Province. They include the firm stand on Coastal land rights, Devolution, education, employment rights and mainstreaming of minority issues. Incidentally, it is the party's strong stand on these issues that routinely invites the ire of opponents, led by people who believe that a continually ignorant population is fodder for their land-grabbing tin god, whose affinity for enslavement of the ignorant is now the stuff of legend.
Devolution has been referred to in many fora as "Raila's baby" or "ODM's legacy", a reference that we accept with honour and humility, knowing the fight it took to have it woven into the 2010 Constitution. If the Coast Tangatanga MPs cared to read a little history, they would know that Devolution was born out of the passionate desire of the great Ronald Ngala for Majimboism, a task which both Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and the Rt Hon Raila Odinga pushed to fruition so as to empower marginalised communities at the Coast, which explains the latter's popularity at the Coast. Today, Coastal counties enjoy semi autonomy in revenue and expenditure, greater say in tourist earnings, Port use and land rights blueprints. It has been a painstaking journey, but one that moves in the right direction unhindered. Raila's love for the people of the Coast, and their love right back, is the worst kept secret in this land. These Tangatanga MPs must be reminded that were it not for Hon. Raila and the ODM Party, there wouldn’t even be County revenue to fight over in the first place
It is not in our place to tell the MPs what their role should be, but we are constrained to mention that on top of the Devolution that Raila delivered, they would be more relevant calling pressers to show their CDF projects, schools, combating teen pregnancies, addressing skewed employment policies in local industries and tourist facilities, and the poverty menace at the Coast. Raila Odinga's name is not a development blueprint. Neither does cutting nonexistent links with ODM amount to a development project. There is work to be done and the party and its leader will do it without getting distracted.
As for the CRA formula, the Party Leader has expressed a public view that he believes helps provide a near term solution pending the passing of the BBI that allocates even more resources to Counties, for long term application. This view has been informed by other circumstances across the country, and the need to balance the needs of all sides and stakes. In every consideration, the Rt Hon Odinga holds the bigger picture as supreme, and the nation first. That is what it means to be a father.
In conclusion, we would like it to be known that ODM and its Party Leader will keep engaging the people of the Coast directly while seeking to fulfill all promises made to them over the years, without any regard to political brokers who want to build fiefdoms for onward sale to the bottomless pit of corruption.
The record speaks for itself that ODM is the only Party out in the grassroots trying to listen to the voices of the people and doing something to improve their lot. We have seen the mischief and we ask the Tangatanga MPs only one thing; you have no links with us, so find something else to cut!
Edwin Sifuna
Secretary General
Orange Democratic Movement
31/07/2020
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