ODM is putting Jubilee on notice, Opiyo Wandayi

Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi. He said the rally would be a warning to President Kenyatta’s administration that Kenyans are tired with their style of leadership. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

ODM deputy party leader and Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho has said the rallies will set the stage for political campaigns that would see Raila clinch the presidency which has eluded him since 1997.

“Following my ‘Raila Tosha’ declaration last week in Mombasa, ODM has decided our candidate for 2017. I and the youthful leaders of our Orange party shall take it upon ourselves to comb every corner of this great country to completely dissipate any notion of Jubilee from the minds of long-suffering Kenyans,” Mr Joho said.

But the deputy party leader was cautioned against taking the opportunity to campaign for some aspirants. Kibra Constituency aspirant, Eliud Owalo, complained in a letter to Joho that grapevine had it that he would be endorsing some preferred aspirants, urging him to leave the matter to the Nairobi ODM electorate to decide.

“I advise that you devote your weekend’s political activities in Nairobi solely and exclusively for the purposes of marketing Raila for 2017,” said Mr Owalo, who was head of CORD Secretariat in the 2013 elections.

In the letter, copied to Raila and other senior party officials, Owalo warned that if certain aspirants would appear to be favoured, the presidential campaign would equally suffer.

ODM acting Secretary General Agnes Zani told a press conference at the party’s headquarters that roadshows will start from Kawangware and Marikiti before culminating in a rally at the Masinde Muliro grounds in Mathare.

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero said all party governors, MPs and MCAs have been invited to the event, which would set the stage for a major political rally in a couple of weeks in the city. ODM secretary for political affairs and Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi said the rally would be a warning to President Kenyatta’s administration that Kenyans are tired with their style of leadership.

“ODM is putting Jubilee on notice. We are entering into a new and defining phase of the political calendar,” said Mr Wandayi.

“It’s the duty and responsibility of the police to provide security for the smooth running of our programmes. We’re not going to tolerate any shenanigans aimed at derailing our activities,” he added.

The leaders announced that they would use the rally to pile pressure on the President to implement the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission report.