CORD leaders disagree on vote list funding plan

From left are CORD leaders Kalonzo Musyoka, Raila Odinga and Moses Wetangula

The three principals of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) have been unable convince governors from their strongholds to fund the mobilsation of its supporters to register as voters. Details have emerged about how a meeting pursuing this agenda ended in a stalemate. The governors were asked to raise Sh250,000 from wards in areas perceived to be CORD strongholds, but they countered that if they are to do is, they should be given direct nomination as incumbent candidates without having to pay the Sh1 million nomination fees.

Before the two-day meeting began on February 13, governors from the Nyanza region met the CORD principals at Raila Odinga’s Kisumu home for debriefing before going into conference as colleagues from far flung counties streamed in.

Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma spoke first, welcoming the guests before handing over the microphone to co-principal Moses Wetang’ula who welcomed Kalonzo Musyoka to speak before Raila addressed the meeting.

Special roles

All the three co-principals then rallied the governors and their deputies to champion voter registration  and push the CORD agenda to popularise the opposition before the next polls.

Sources at the meeting said the principals presented a document to governors outlining the special roles they should play in the voter listing exercise that began last Monday.

The blueprint prepared by a consultant laid out guidelines about how CORD should source for funds, take charge of the voter listing to counter Jubilee’s high number of registered voters before the last poll. The document proposed two sets of budgets; one funded by CORD’s national office and another funded by the governors, with governors taking charge voter registration at polling stations focusing on wards and sub-counties.  According to the document, governors were to raise Sh250,000 per ward.

Given that CORD has governors in 24 of the 47 counties, the total amount expected was Sh195,250,000. This is because the 24 counties have 781 wards.

The counties listed were Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Homa Bay, Siaya, Busia, Kisii, Nyamira, Migori, Busia, Kakamega and Trans Nzoia.

Others include Kwale, Kilifi, Tana River, Taita Taveta, Garissa, Wajir, Marsabit, Kitui, Machakos, Makueni, Kajiado and Turkana.

But the mood in the meeting changed when the governors raised their concerns and laid down their demands before they consider raising money to mobilise their supporters.

“We wanted to know what we will say when the Government audits our budgets and from which coffers or vote counts the money will be drawn from. We also wanted to know if the CORD principals would support us during the audit period,” a governor who attended the meeting said.

The governors also wanted an assurance that if they raise the funds, they would not be required to pay the Sh1 million nomination fees required by CORD affiliate parties.

“Governors wanted to be assured of direct nominations so that they do not face competition from some senators who have expressed an interest to vie for the governorship in 2017,” another governor who attended the meeting said.

He added, “The mood in the meeting was not good and there was no consensus.

“We had agreed to address the media on the deliberations but because we did not agree, we instead sent a statement to media houses.” The meeting began at 3pm on Saturday and went on well into the night and part of Sunday.

Senators, MPs, senior county staff members and security were not allowed in the meeting. Only Siaya Senator James Orengo was present to explain the legal hurdles raised by governors.

Those in the meeting were not allowed to communicate through mobile phones. Before the meeting began, the co-principals refused to speak to the media. “We are here for strategy meeting. We cannot address the media now. We will give a comprehensive address at 9.30am tomorrow,” Raila said before going into the session with the governors.

During the Saturday session, governors Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega), James Ongwae (Kisii), Jonathan Mueke (Deputy Governor Nairobi) and Dr Julius Malombe (Kitui) chaired plenary discussions.

The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa Chief Executive, Mr Felix Odhiambo, took the team through civic education and technical presentations on voter patterns and behaviour. His topic was entitled ‘Strengthening the Governance Function and Executive Role in Counties’.

On Sunday morning, consultant and writer David Ndii gave a presentation of the political climate in Kenya in a presentation dubbed State of the Nation. The paper showcased CORD’s strengths and weaknesses.

Members of the county assemblies were also asked to mobilise supporters to register as voters and provide them with transport to centres of registration. Other governors who attended the meeting were Sospeter Ojaamong (Busia),  , Cyprian Awiti (Homa Bay), Cornel Rasanga (Siaya) and John Nyagarama (Nyamira). Deputy governors were Ouma Onyango (Siaya), Hamilton Orata (Homa Bay), Joash Maangi (Kisii) and Ruth Odinga (Kisumu).