Raila Party launches regrouping initiative

 Narok ODM chairman Charles Nampaso, the party's Deputy Secretary-General Senator Agnes Zani 

and Executive Director Oduor Ong'wen  address journalists in Narok on Friday :The party is re-inventing itself ahead of the 2022 elections.

ODM has launched a regrouping initiative they termed as a ‘roll call’ exercise after the bruising 2017 General Election where their party leader Raila Odinga lost to Jubilee’s President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In what seems a move to counter Deputy President William Ruto political activity, party officials led by its Executive Director Oduor Ong’wen and party’s Secretary General Agnes Zani, said the party was reawakening.

“ODM is the largest party in Africa with over 1.9 million officials from polling station level all the way to national. The 2017 elections came with waves, storms and as a responsible party we deemed it right to regroup,” said Mr Ong’wen.

Though the officials downplayed the move being linked with 2022 politics, they reiterated that their aim was to ensure that party officials and county coordinators remain intact in the next electioneering year.

Mr Ong’wen said the party was an organised one unlike other parties that only unite when the elections are closer and thereafter disintegrate.

“Some parties masquerade as political parties only when elections are around the corner but as ODM we have ideologies and manifestoes that even if we did not clinch the presidency, we have our county governments which we want them to implement,” Ong’wen stated.

Addressing Journalists in Narok during the meet-officials-tour, Nominated Senator Agnes Zani said they have met officials in their strongholds such as Bungoma, Nairobi and Narok and were set to tour other counties.

She said ODM would continue fighting for social justice and that they were seeking to stay together ahead of the next general election.

“As ODM we have not lost hope even after losing the presidency in the last election and even after the “handshake” between our party leader and President Uhuru Kenyatta. We are still a popular party but our focus is now building bridges and strengthening our party,” said Ms Zani.

The grassroots drive by the ODM party comes at a time its party leader Raila Odinga criticised DP Ruto’s cross-country tours in the name of drumming support for the Big Four agenda accusing him of using the trips to advance his 2022 presidential bid at the expense of development.