ODM to stick with Karan in Ugenya

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) will not conduct fresh nominations for the Ugenya parliamentary seat in the coming by-elections, Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has announced.

ODM will instead use a legal argument to avoid the nomination process.

''We will follow the precedent set by the Supreme Court, which said that in a by-election there is no need for holding fresh party nominations," Mr Sifuna said.

According to Sifuna, the repeat elections of October 26, 2017 brought about the Supreme Court ruling. As a result, most political parties have taken advantage of the ruling to avoid rigorous nomination processes.

The Ugenya seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court declared the election of Chris Karan invalid.

This came after a successful appeal by Karan's opponent, David Ochieng, of the Movement for Democracy and Growth Party (MDGP).

So far, no other candidate has declared an interest in the seat.

Sifuna spoke as campaigns continue with both candidates reaching out to voters.

In the 2017 General Election Mr Karan narrowly beat Mr Ochieng with a margin of 200 votes.

This was the second time in two successive elections that the two were facing off.

In 2013, Ochieng beat Karan on an ODM ticket.

But in the last elections, Ochieng fell out with the ODM ranks.

He was one of the party mandarins who were sensationally accused of being 'moles' working with the Jubilee Party.

Ochieng then chose to form a new party, MDGP, on whose ticket he ran for the Ugenya seat.

Yesterday, Sifuna told The Standard in an interview that ODM was waiting for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to announce the election dates.

Traditionally, the National Assembly Speaker issues official writs to declare a parliamentary seat vacant.