South Atlantic is made up of Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
In the East South Central are Mississippi and Tennessee. West South Central brings on board Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
Region 4 is composed of states classified as West (Mountain & Pacific). These are states like Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Montana, Utah, Nevada and Wyoming. Others are Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington.
Releasing the strategy at the weekend moments before he boarded a plane to Nairobi, Osamba of Dallas, Texas, said this has been in the making for some time and they were now confident it would deliver the PM and ODM huge victory in the US.
“We believe the Diaspora vote is going to prove crucial especially in a situation where there is a run-off. These are people who have tasted the fruits of democratic leadership and functional institutions. They know who has been on the side of reforming our institutions under the new Constitution and so all we are doing is provide structures within which they can participate in the making of a new Kenya,” he said.
Osamba, who is one of Raila’s trusted pointmen in the Diaspora, disclosed that the network has contacts and field officers in all the states.
Recruitment
“Unlike our rivals who concentrate their activities and campaigns in states and regions they perceive to have more people from their tribes, the PM is a national leader and ODM is a national movement. So we will try to reach out to every Kenyan even those in Alaska because we believe their vote and support counts,” he said.
The significance of Raila’s strategy and campaign structure is already being felt in the US. During a memorial weekend held recently in Dallas, Texas, ODM under US interim chairman Sam Ngetich conducted a successful recruitment drive.
“During the memorial activities held at the park, ODM had a signing in session in which more than 300 Kenyans signed up as members and party supporters. We were also able to display our banners and distribute ODM memorabilia and apparels,” said Osamba.
Omburo of Jersey City, New Jersey, told The Standard On Sunday that they were planning to use the network to organise a series of recruitment drives around the US with a major launch planned to take place along the East Coast in the New York/New jersey area. The function to be attended by Raila is being organised by Fora-USA and ODM-USA.
“We supporters of the ODM movement have organised regional cells to raise awareness on steps towards voting. We are calling on all Kenyans to be ready for registration as voters when the exercise opens as the first step towards voting. The North East corridor region, covering North Carolina to Boston, has invited Raila to launch the movement sometime this summer,” he said.
