ODM should persuade Ababu Namwamba to stay

So many anti-Ababu Namwamba opinion pieces have been written, the few I have read are outright bitter with his move to resign as Secretary General of the largest political party in Kenya. Ababu Namwamba's resignation as SG shouldn't be taken lightly. ODM should go back to the drawing board and ask itself why this keeps happening a year to elections and how to prevent the defection of members to other parties.

That said I think accusations by the party and its supporters that leaders from Western region are being bought is malicious and diversionary from the real issue. I read Barrack Muluka's piece on the parable of the Bossy Tortoise and I tend to agree with him.

There must be something within the party that is not being done correctly and that's why leaders aren't hesitating to quit. Some have accused Ababu of betraying Raila Odinga since he made him. My question is this, when Ababu was appointed as a minister didn't he deserve it? I mean had he not worked his way up to it? When he vied for the SG position (which he won but the powers associated with the position withdrawn) wasn't he qualified?

Some have gone back to the swearing in ceremony of 2008 when Ababu swore allegiance to Raila Odinga instead of the then president Mwai Kibaki, to find fault in what he is doing now. I wonder why it wasn't an issue then. ODM should learn to be tolerant of leaders within the party that have a different opinion from that which is held by the majority.

Branding leaders as "moles" just because the said leaders don’t agree with a perceived party opinion is wrong. What happened to democracy? Back to the Ababu issue, instead of ODM issuing ultimatums to Ababu Namwamba, the party should be holding talks with him to persuade him to stay. It will be such a loss to the party to let go of such a brilliant young politician.