Don't undermine Ababu Namwamba, ODM warned

ODM delegates led by Chairman John Mbadi(2nd L) and Secretary General Ababu Namwamba(3rd R) addresses the media after the end of Party's Strategic retreat at Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos on Monday 20/04/15. [PHOTO.BONIFACE OKENDO/STANDARD]

Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader Raila Odinga has been warned that he risks losing the crucial Western Kenya voting bloc if the ODM party continues with what some regard as frustrating Secretary-General Ababu Namwamba.

Raila’s key ally and Nairobi County ODM chairman George Aladwa has cautioned that it will not be ‘business as usual’ if Namwamba is antagonised by politicians from Nyanza, who, he said, are close to the party leader.

“We are watching what is happening in the party and any attempts to undermine Namwamba from within following his removal from the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) will be unacceptable to the people of the former Western province,” Aladwa told The Standard on Sunday.

There is a feeling among some of the party stalwarts from the Western region that most of the key positions within the party were being dominated by their Nyanza counterparts, especially after the appointment of Oduor Ong’wen as the new executive director to replace Magerer Langat.

There were reports that Namwamba was to be discussed by the National Executive Committee (NEC) and replaced as secretary general at last week’s party retreat at Maanzoni Lodge, Machakos County, for having secretly taped Raila during a discussion on corruption within PAC, where he served as chair. Raila, who is currently out of the country, attended the retreat.

But according to ODM’s Communication Officer Philip Etale, the agenda of the Maanzoni meeting was to introduce Ong’wen to NEC as the new executive director and to discuss the party’s preparations for the 2017 General Election.

Etale said no member of the NEC brought up the issue of the party’s secretary general and that Namwamba was firmly in charge as the ODM spokesperson.

“The challenges faced by the ODM secretary general in the National Assembly are not party issues and there is no way the two can be mixed,” said Ong’wen.

Ong’wen said the meeting was called to orient new NEC members on ODM ideologies and programmes and to plan for the future by developing a blue-print for the 2017 general election.

The only other issue discussed, he said, was to change the title of the party’s Director of Elections to Director of Campaigns.

“We did this to avoid confusion between his position and the party’s National Elections Board,” Ong’wen.

Sirisia MP John Waluke (ODM)  said Western region leaders were fully behind Namwamba and would resist any attempts to undermine his authority as ODM’s secretary general.

Following his ouster from PAC, Namwamba played a crucial role in the formation of the Western Parliamentary Caucus, which he says is a vehicle for resolving problems facing the region.

“Our first mission was to save Johnstone Kavuludi from the witch-hunt seeking to remove him by dissolving the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) that he chairs. I led Waluke and Benard Shinali (Ikolomani) in convincing the Parliamentary Committee on National Security to throw out a petition brought by Bura MP Ali Wario,” Namwamba told The Standard on Sunday.

The Budalang'i MP insists that he is not leaving ODM and that he is committed to his role as the party’s secretary general.

Tongareni MP Dr Eseli Simiyu (Ford-Kenya) replaced Namwamba in PAC, raising questions within ODM on why an MP from the party within Western could not be nominated to the position.

“It was an ODM position but reserved for Western. We have senior MPs in the region like Paul Otuoma (Funyula), Dr Wilber Otichillo (Emuhaya) and Dr Enock Kibunguchy (Likuyani) who should have replaced Namwamba. Bringing in Eseli was a deliberate effort to undermine ODM in Western,” said Ben Ombima, a Vihiga County nominated MCA.

Western leaders feel the region is getting a raw deal within ODM, even though it gave Raila the highest number of votes in the 2013 General Election.