By JUMA KWAYERA
KENYA: A major shake-up is in the works at the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party as it prepares to bounce back from several setbacks in the last General Election.
This comes amid pressure from some quarters in the party for ODM leader Raila Odinga, 68, to pass the mantle to a more youthful leader. Calls for change at the top were a key topic at last year’s ODM Youth Convention, but this is the first time they are being directed at the former Prime Minister from party members.
Raila moved to scotch this talk two weeks ago with interviews in two leading Sunday papers, saying he was not retiring from politics any time soon. He was forced to be more explicit – saying he would run again for president in 2017 – when names of possible successors began to be bandied about in the media. “We need to get rid of everybody, except Raila,” says Tigania East MP Apuri Mburi, one of those who have urged for change in the party before.
Others say the impending changes are about the next five years, not 2017.
“There is obvious weakness in Government,” says Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba. “We want to restructure our party to be in a position to keep it in check. We need to… develop a clear policy direction and offer leadership.”
ODM, and the CORD coalition it belongs to, are recovering from the debacle that was the March 4 elections, lost in contentious fashion after a campaign that began with bungled primaries, ad hoc membership registers and defections. The party had topped opinion polls since 2007 but saw its lead slip away in the face of what pundits have described as Jubilee’s better-organised election machinery.
ODM MPs, some of who were beneficiaries of alleged irregularities reported at nomination, are unwilling to comment on some of the weaknesses they want addressed to end perennial complaints of fraud and election rigging. One of the questions the party is looking to settle is whether Raila will remain at the helm as party leader and who will surround him. Raila has said he is not quitting politics, despite “pressure from Jubilee” to do so. His political students insist the party is keen on ideological rather than biological age. Party Vice Secretary-General Joseph Nkaissery says ODM is planning a radical makeover based on ideology and policy to address the failings that undermined its popularity in its traditional strongholds in the months to the polls.
“I don’t want to pre-empt anything at this stage,” says Gen Nkaissery, the Kajiado South MP. “The National Governing Council we have planned for July 26 will provide the roadmap to give the party a new impetus in leadership, especially at county level. It is also normal that when you lose an election you do a post-mortem to know where things went wrong.”
ODM’s misfortunes accelerated in the run-up to its primaries, during which party and Secretariat officials were accused of dishing out nomination certificates to friends and relatives. There were also claims of certificates being given to the highest bidder, even if they lost the chaotic nominations contests. Defending some of the irregularities, some ODM officials claimed infiltration by Jubilee had helped vote out popular candidates at primaries.
Ultimately, the Orange party suffered setbacks in Nyanza, Western, Rift Valley and Coast regions with some popular candidates defecting to rival parties. This, in addition to the larger defections of some leaders from Rift Valley, led by William Ruto and others from Western led by Musalia Mudavadi.The Standard On Saturday has established that some of the changes contemplated are borrowed from South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC), Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). When the party kicked off the reorganisation with the appointment of former Kipkelion MP Joseph Magerer Lang’at, it created three positions of Assistant Executive directors. The three are Nabii Nabwera, who heads Policy and Strategy, Ceaser Asiyo, who will be in charge of Operations and Rosemary Kariuki, who heads the Membership Services directorate.
ANC and MDC have special seats for women and the youth to help mobilise support. The ANC Youth League, for instance, is a powerful organisation with an international profile.
Julius Malema, one of its best-known leaders, was key to the party’s youth appeal during his tenure. Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete was a CCM youth leader during the tenure of founding President Julius Nyerere. ODM hopes to feed the desire for progression in leadership with such positions. The mess that greeted ODM nominations is partly responsible for its poor showing in the March 4 elections, according to the Tigania East MP. Mr Aburi, who is also the Meru County ODM chair, says the party is full of negative energy that should be purged immediately. He welcomes the injection of new thinking and changes to give all parts of ODM a national character.
“We need to get rid of everybody – except Raila – and replace them with new people. We lost elections because of the negative energy. We must start with recruitment, have clean membership registers and conduct fresh elections at all levels. Popular candidates must be elected to add value to the party,” Aburi says, predicting that the party will be stronger than its rivals within two years.
January primaries upped complaints about hegemonic hold onto key positions. Some ODM members argue national positions should be shared out more widely. They suggest replacing Chairman Henry Kosgey and Secretary General Anyang’ Nyong’o, and filling vacant positions of Treasurer (previously held by Omingo Magara) Deputy Party Leader (Mudavadi defected to UDF) and Vice-Chairman (to replace former Gachoka MP Joe Nyaga). Speaking to The Standard On Saturday, Magerer pointed out that the major challenge the party faces is the restoration of trust in internal democracy. He adds the party also wants to be seen fighting for devolution.
