News that Ababu Namwamba is not happy at ODM have threatened to split the Western politics into confusion as CORD prepares to battle it out with Jubilee.
The leaders have written a letter pointing out reasons why they are not happy with the coalition party ODM.
..As ODM leaders from Western Kenya, we reject the persistent habit in our party to treat us as second rate members. Certain forces within ODM have formed this habit of bullying, intimidating and wrongly profiling us for no good reason at all.
The trend goes all the way to Ford-Kenya twenty years ago when similar tricks were employed in an attempt to derail the rise of the late Michael Kijana Wamalwa. A similar thing happened to Musalia Mudavadi in 2012,”
The script is now being applied to Party Secretary General Ababu Namwamba.
We accordingly wish to state as follows:
We are not happy at all that the party leadership has no respect for us as elected leaders in the region. The Party Leader as well as the National Chairman have been conducting activities in the region without involving us at all,
Only last weekend the Party Leader was in Kakamega and Vihiga without as much as notifying area MPs Wilbur Ottichilo and Chris Omulele.
“Last month the National Chairman John Mbadi was in Khwisero purportedly unveiling the party branch leadership without the area MP Andola. We do not take this disrespect kindly,
As ODM MPs in western, we feel our interests are certainly not served within CORD, whether in Parliament or on the ground,
It is important for the party to clarify if it has ceded the ODM western front to CORD so that we can determine the appropriate course of action.
We are aware that some well known forces within the party have conspired to remove Hon Ababu Namwamba as Secretary General,
These are the same forces that interfered with his election at Kasarani in February 2014 using cheap propaganda and the Men in Black violence,
The same forces have made it impossible for him to serve effectively as Secretary General. They have frustrated and sabotaged all his efforts to help reform and strengthen the party.
When the Namwamba initiated the popular TokelezeaID drive to rally issuance of IDs and voters cards in our party strongholds, they denied it funds and sabotaged it by initiating a stillborn rival, Jitambulishe na Kipande,
They abandoned it soon as Ababu stopped TokelezeaID to avoid friction in the party,
When he proposed and initiated far reaching reforms to restructure the discredited party National Elections Board (NEB) and end the perennial nominations mess, the agenda was snatched away, twisted around and used as a weapon to fight him.
His efforts to turn the party secretariat into a professionally run outfit and to attract support from his international networks have roundly been nipped in the bud,
Sinister moves have been made to undermine his position by propping up other offices to encroach on his mandate,
Just before Hon Ababu took office, key roles that were previously performed by Anyang Nyongo were quietly and unconstitutionally moved to Executive Director Oduor Ongwen, who was hastily appointed to replace Magerer Langat that had been shamefully ejected from Orange House.
New amorphous offices like Secretary for Political Affairs and Director of Elections were also created to further undermine the office of Secretary General,
His sterling role that helped deliver the Kajiado Central and Mathare by-elections was never acknowledged,
The worst part of it has been a sustained smear campaign against the Secretary General by the so called party bloggers acting for “owners of the party.
It is a classic case of a dog eating her own puppies by accusing them of smelling like goat!
Ababu is a founding member of ODM and a proven party stalwart. He has served ODM and Raila Odinga with exceptional dedication, from the floor of Parliament to the trenches through his highly effective initiatives like ODM RELOADED.,
When the party was at its lowest ebb after the mass exodus of the Pentagon leaders that included William Ruto and Musalia Mudavadi, Ababu led from the front to steady the Orange Ship,
It is for good reasons that he is called GENERALI in party circles. How does such a proven fine party warrior suddenly become a traitor?
What do you expect of a Secretary General that is clearly tolerated than appreciated? How do you undermine a senior party official then expect him to perform?
Why was the Secretary General not consulted when the Party Executive Director was hired? Why has the SG’s constitutional mandate as party spokesman been usurped by other people who now casually purport to speak for the party?
Why is the Executive Director casually hiring and firing senior Secretariat staff without consulting the Secretary General who is the Head of the Secretariat under the Constitution?
Why was the signature authority of the office of Secretary General diluted just before Ababu took office? How can a party purportedly founded on the rule of law have no respect for its own Constitution and established traditions?
We want to make it absolutely clear that we firmly stand by Hon Ababu Namwamba as Secretary General of ODM. He represents our wider interests in the party,
We issue a stern warning to the evil forces within our party that your days are numbered. We remind everyone that we are neither guests in ODM nor slaves of anyone,
We have contributed to what ODM is today and have a big stake in it. No one will intimidate, bully or wrongly profile us,,
We strongly rebuke those fond of branding others all sorts of silly names like “Mole” and the like. How can it be that when we engage President Uhuru Kanyatta or Deputy President William Ruto we become moles
But when others do the same thing, or even more, it is regarded as normal business of leadership? Who says we cannot be wealthy or seek high political office unless we are “bought”?
We reject in toto this juvenile condescending attitude and double standards.
And may it be known by everyone that as far as politics is concerned we will not accept to be taken for granted. We demand our rightful place in our party.
Hon Paul Otuoma, EGH, MP
ODM National Vice-Chair & Funyula (Busia)
Hon Wilbur Ottichilo, MP
Emuhaya (Vihiga)
Hon major John Waluke, MP
Sirisia (Bungoma)
Hon Andayi Andola, MP
Khwisero (Kakamega)
Hon Chris Omulele, MP
Luanda (Vihiga)
Hon Kedogo S.
Vihiga County MP (Vihiga)
Hon Silverse Anami Lisamula, MP
Shinyalu (Kakamega)
Hon Ababu Namwamba, EGH, MP
ODM Secretary General & Budalangi (Busia)
