A fresh wave of discontent is brewing in Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) strongholds over party primaries.
A section of ODM officials have been accused of trying to rig party nominations long before they are conducted.
Some MPs and aspirants for elective positions on the ODM ticket are pushing to have the Raila Odinga-led party contract the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct the primaries to ensure fairness.
This week’s protest by Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero that the party’s director of elections, Junet Mohammed, had publicly said he would not be given an ODM ticket to defend his seat, has opened a can of worms with the party denying claims it had drawn a list of preferred candidates.
It has now emerged that party MPs are sharply divided over seeking the services of the IEBC to conduct the nominations.
Those opposed to the proposal argue that IEBC cannot be trusted. They want the party’s National Elections Board (NEB) chaired by Judith Pareno to conduct the primaries.
ODM National Chairman John Mbadi two months ago said the party was mulling over inviting the IEBC to carry out the exercise.
But last week, he was quoted as saying the party may not afford the cost of hiring the commission.
Muhoroni MP Onyango K’Oyoo welcomed the idea of using IEBC to conduct party primaries and challenged leaders of CORD affiliate parties to change their hard position on nominations.
“The IEBC might do a good job but at the end of the day, they will still submit the results to the party leadership who might influence the final results,” said Mr K’Oyoo.
Ndhiwa MP Agostino Neto and Women Representative Gladys Wanga want the IEBC to conduct party nominations. Speaking at Kidoi village in his constituency where he toured development projects yesterday, Mr Neto said Parliament should give the IEBC funds to conduct party primaries to enhance fairness.
“Parliament should allocate more funds to the IEBC to enable them conduct nominations for all political parties to avoid cases of discontent after nominations,” he said.
Ms Wanga argued that IEBC has the logistical and technical know how to conduct nominations. “IEBC can conduct it better because they have the capacity to do everything needed for fairness,” she said.
However Senator Moses Kajwang’, MPs Oyugi Magwanga (Kasipul), Silvance Osele (Kabondo Kasipul) and Peter Kaluma (Homa Bay Town) are opposed to the use of IEBC for party primaries.
“IEBC has lost credibility hence they can easily be manipulated by our opponents to scuttle the nominations,” said Mr Magwanga. He said ODM elections board should be funded well to enable it undertake fair and transparent nominations.
Mr Osele argued that IEBC officials can be compromised if they develop good relations with political party officials.
MPs Gideon Ochanda (Bondo) and Nicholas Gumbo (Rarieda) argued that most candidates have lost trust in the party’s NEB.
Ochanda said although Raila has given an assurance that nominations will be free and fair, there is need to have a nonpartisan body to conduct the exercise.
“The violence that we are witnessing now is due to the forthcoming party primaries where those who have benefited from the unfair exercise now want to defend themselves since they have no agenda,” he said.
Mr Ochanda proposed the use of IEBC to conduct primaries in areas that are very competitive.
“I am a victim of unfair party primaries and we should come up with proper mechanisms as a party in order to avoid chaotic nominations that we’ve had before. Majority of those who were elected to Parliament or county assemblies did so through court after they were rigged out,” he said.
According to Eng Gumbo, there are just too many bogus National Executive Council (NEC) members to guarantee a fair process. “When you hear of some small-time NEC officials boasting around that they already know who will and who will not make the list, it speaks to a fatally contaminated process (ab initio), that can only be rescued through the intervention of an impartial or disinterested outsider,” he said.
But Mr Kaluma said involving the IEBC in party nominations would complicate the exercise. He proposed a hybrid approach by involving the IEBC and party’s NEB.
Kisumu Town West MP, Olago Aluoch said parties no longer have an excuse to conduct shoddy nominations after President Uhuru Kenyatta assented to the Election Laws (Amendment) Act.
