Raila set for Western tour to stem rebellion

Raila Odinga addresses residents of Busia County. (Photo: File)

ODM leader Raila Odinga will take the battle to the doorstep of his immediate former party Secretary General Ababu Namwamba.

But first he has instructed his MPs to avoid engaging the loyalist-turned-defector.

This, sources in the party revealed, was a decision taken by Raila and his key backers because they feel any engagement would give Namwamba “unnecessary attention, an exaggerated feeling of importance and relevance, and amount to playing into his trap”.

Raila, who also doubles up as the leader of the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy, is scheduled to kick off a four-day onslaught aimed at quelling the rebellion in Western region beginning July 18 with rallies in Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma and Busia counties.

The meetings and engagements with local party leaders are a bid to contain a possible fall-out sparked by the latest resignations by Namwamba and the party’s vice chairman Paul Otuoma, also from the region.

In exiting the party on Monday, Namwamba, who in 2008 stole the limelight by swearing in the name of Raila during the official oathing of MPs, abandoned ODM claiming disrespect, betrayal and frustration against him by top party leaders.

His problems in the party appeared to have built up from the abortive ODM party elections in which he at one point claimed he was being blocked by those close to Raila.

“The main reason I have become a traitor is because they never expected a Luhya, just like they did with Musalia Mudavadi, to rise in the party. They expected us to cheer them, follow them and support them forever,” he said on leaving the party.

Raila will meet ODM party officials at county and sub-county level as well as Church leaders and delegates from the four counties. He will be accompanied by MPs from the region and aspirants who will be seeking elective seats on ODM tickets.

CORD Chief Executive Norman Magaya said Raila will begin his meet-the-people tour in Vihiga County with a rally at Luanda market on July 18.

He will first meet party officials and other supporters on Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Mudavadi’s turf and open a party office in Luanda.

“The CORD leader will have a series of engagements with the people of Western for four days. He will listen to the issues with a view to solving them. Once he leaves for Western, he won’t be back until he accomplishes his mission,” explained Mr Magaya.

After visiting Luanda and Sabatia, Raila and his entourage will meet party officials in Namwamba’s turf, Budalang’i, and Otuoma’s Funyula base.

Raila’s entourage

The itinerary shows Raila will meet party stalwarts in Sio Port and hold a rally at Port Victoria before he leaves for Mumias East and Mumias West the following day. He will crown his Western tour with a rally in Mumias town.

The Opposition chief will be accompanied by other deputy party leaders, governors Hassan Joho (Mombasa) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega), and MPs Junet Mohamed (Suna East) and Timothy Bosire (Kitutu Masaba). Also in the entourage will be ODM Western Women Parliamentary  Representatives Dorcas Kedogo (Vihiga) and Florence Mutua (Busia) as well as MPs Sylvance Anami (Mumias East), Godfrey Odanga (Matayos) and Raphael Otaalo (Lurambi) whom he met in Nairobi this week.

A fortnight ago, nine ODM Western leaders led by Otuoma and Namwamba issued a stinging criticism of the party’s leadership regarding a wide range of issues, including sidelining of other leaders, poor co-ordination and lack of respect by colleagues from Nyanza region.

Raila then met five lawmakers for talks during which he agreed to meet with all local branch chairmen in Western region this month.

Mr Anami revealed the leaders agreed that the party leader would in the next month hold a meeting with all ODM branch chairmen from Western region and address their concerns.

On Wednesday, Raila met several MPs from Western led by Emuhaya’s Wilbur Ottichilo and his Shinyalu counterpart Anami at his Capital Hill office in Nairobi where they discussed an extensive tour of the region, a move seen as an attempt to counter the wave of resignations.

Meanwhile, Mudavadi has welcomed disgruntled ODM legislators to join ANC.

As he welcomed Namwamba’s apology for maligning him in the past, Mudavadi said he was a “stoic leader who hardly keeps grudges”.

He said Namwamba’s 2013 conduct against him came out of unfamiliarity with the operations of ODM, a party where he had served as deputy leader until he quit citing roadblocks in the party’s 2012 presidential nominations.

“I knew Namwamba’s goose was cooked when he declared an interest in the party’s secretary general seat. Now that he has been hurt I don’t see the need for my brother and others in ODM to suffer in the cold when there is space in ANC,” said Mudavadi.

But some ODM leaders have scoffed at Namwamba’s resignation. Opondo Kaluma (Homa Bay Town) and Sylvance Osele (Kabondo/Kasipul) said Namwamba could not purport to resign from a position he blatantly refused to serve in upon election.

“His resignation is good for the party. We can now get a serious secretary general,” said Mr Kaluma.

— Additional reporting by Robert Amalemba