ODM PARTY SPLITS

Disagreements among ODM leaders in are threatening to tear apart the outfit in Busia after claims party county secretary Innocent Oluku has been removed from office.

A faction led by deputy secretary Peter Odima said Oluku had been removed from his position for publicly declaring support for Woman Representative Florence Mutua’s governorship bid before party primaries are conducted.

Odima told the Star on the phone on Wednesday that Oluku’s actions were in violation of party principles.

He said declaring his support for Mutua would demoralise other ODM prospective candidates eyeing the governor’s post.

Oluku had on Monday called on residents to rally behind Mutua to succeed Governor Sospeter Ojaamong. He spoke at a press conference attended by Mutua in Busia town during the launch of the IEBC voter registration drive.

“As ODM leaders, we are supposed to be neutral,” Odima said.

“But Oluku is openly campaigning for Mutua. What does he think the other candidates will say? Won’t they feel unfairly treated? As an ODM leader, you cannot campaign for a candidate before party primaries?”

Odima said he is the acting ODM county secretary after Oluku’s ‘ejection’.

 “He [Oluku] cannot continue serving until we hold a meeting for all county delegates and reach an agreement on who is the county secretary. For now, Oluku is out. I’m the secretary in an acting capacity,” he said.

Odima’s group on September 20 wrote a protest letter to Orange House notifying the party headquarters of Oluku’s office removal.

The Star has, however, established that ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna faulted Odima’s faction for their actions on grounds that Oluku’s removal from his position was conducted un-procedurally.

But Odima said Sifuna should respect Oluku’s removal as county secretary.

In response to Odima, Oluku said he cannot shy away from declaring support for the candidate he feels deserves to succeed Ojaamong.

He said by virtue of the fact that Orange House said his removal from office was not in order, he remains the ODM county secretary.

“They are talking out of ignorance,” he said on the phone on Wednesday.

“ODM has an elections board. The board is supposed to be non-partisan. I will not shy away from saying I support Raila Odinga or Florence Mutua because supporting a candidate does not mean all the delegates support him or her.”

“I will have candidates to support but at the end of the day it is the delegates who will decide who vies for which position. Their vote is final.”

In an earlier interview, Oluku had called Odima’s faction “a group of people excited by making declarations on social media.”

“Those are busybodies. Leave them alone,” he told the Star.

On Monday, he said besides holding a post in ODM, he is an ordinary Busia voter with the right to declare who he supports in the 2022 general election.

“I want to call upon all the people in Busia to come out in large numbers and register as voters so that we can get good leaders. I know come 2022, we are going to crown Mutua as our new governor.”

Oluku had on September 20 said ODM will conduct transparent party primaries and hand over certificates to candidates who will emerge winners.

The party will not favour any candidate during the primary elections, he said.

By The Star