ODM leader Raila Odinga installed as Duruma elder

ODM leader Raila Odinga has been installed as a Duruma elder at Samburu in Kinango Sub County, Kwale County.

This comes as the former Prime Minister asked Coast leaders to stop the clamour for a regional party at a time when they are working to unite the country through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).

Raila said the idea of regional parties has outlived its usefulness and urged those agitating for it to join other larger parties with a national outlook.

He said regional parties will dismember the country into tribal cocoons instead of the national unity espoused in the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020.

“There is no need to form tribal regional parties. There were parties or associations like the Kikuyu Central Association, others belonging to the Luo, the Luyha, among other communities, formed before but they all died," said the former prime minister in Taita Taveta on Monday.

 

Raila's stand is supported by Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho who has promised never to desert ODM. He has already submitted his nomination papers to become the party's presidential flag-bearer in 2022.

The formation of the Coast-based political party is Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi's idea. Kingi and some Coast leaders have said they are in the process of forming a Coast party, which he said will be unveiled soon. He has also publicly declared that he is on his way out of ODM.

However, Raila urged him and his supporters to stay put, adding that the region's interest were well taken care of in the Orange party.

He said ODM as a democratic party welcomes Joho's decision to contest for the party's presidential ticket.

Today, Raila will hold five rallies in Kilifi, where he is expected to come face to face with Kingi.