ODM faces acid test in move to consolidate grassroots support

• POLITICS: Orange party’s nationwide grassroots mobilisation campaign gets off to a rocky start with rival camps engaging in battles as discontent among the rank and file boils over. But Raila downplays talk of internal fights saying it is normal.

The leadership of the Orange Democratic Movement faces a unity test with its nationwide grassroots mobilisation campaign off to a rocky start.

Bickering over who are bona fide party delegates, accusations of mismanagement at the Orange party headquarters and widening gaps between grassroots and national officials are some of the issues that emerged when Prime Minister Raila Odinga launched the campaign by meeting delegates from Nyanza in Homa Bay last weekend.

The day-long meeting was punctuated by fist fights, heckling, accusations and counter-accusations among the Nyanza delegates.

The apparent divisions at the grassroots level compound the challenges facing the party.

The main fault line in ODM has previously been between Mr Odinga and Agriculture minister William Ruto.

But more cracks have appeared in the last two weeks. MPs from Nyanza recently convened a press conference in Nairobi to denounce Miguna Miguna, the PM’s adviser on constitutional affairs, after he wrote an opinion article that ridiculed former President Daniel arap Moi.

Party sources said the statement did not go down well with the party leaders as they saw it as a direct assault on the PM, who has fallen out with Mr Moi over his efforts to conserve the Mau forest.

The MPs’ statement came as the PNU wing of the government waged a public campaign against Mr Miguna, questioning his nationality and eligibility to work in Kenya. Mr Miguna unsuccessfully vied for the Nyando parliamentary seat in the 2007 General Election.

The meeting held in Homa Bay last Saturday and convened by the Nyanza party coordinator Monica Amollo was held against this backdrop. It was attended by ODM chairman Henry Kosgey, secretary-general Anyang’ Nyong’o and treasurer Omingo Magara.

Mr Magara faces a by-election following the nullification of the 2007 South Mugirango parliamentary results. That by-election is expected to further complicate matters for the party.

A section of the party leadership feels Mr Magara should not be subjected to party primaries, while the ODM elections board says due process must be followed.

Speaking to the Sunday Nation by telephone, Mr Magara said he was ready to face other contestants in a free and fair nomination process.

“I don’t want direct nomination. I want to run in a fair nomination exercise. I am optimistic by the will of God and support of the people of South Mugirango that I will recapture the seat. Nothing has changed,” he said.

Nyakach MP Pollyns Ochieng has moved to court to challenge the constituency’s grassroots elections that pitted his group against that of former MP Peter Odoyo, a move that has angered the party’s top brass.

Other branches facing the same squabbles include Rongo and Ndhiwa.

A party official who sought anonymity said that although ODM leadership had been advocating greater devolution, they had not done the same within the party.

“There was a tussle in Homa Bay. Those who were thought to be radical were sidelined, and a list of those who were to speak was changed at the last minute. Delegates fought among themselves, and it all turned chaotic because the party leadership wanted to impose a programme on the delegates,” he said.

Public Works minister Chris Obure said the divisions at the grassroots should be addressed urgently to consolidate the party’s position countrywide.

Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojodeh was conspicuously absent from the meeting.

Mrs Amollo, a long-time rival of Mr Ojodeh, said of the assistant minister’s absence: “That is unfortunate, but you cannot force people to belong. Those who felt they needed issues to be sorted out attended”.

When contacted Mr Ojodeh said he could not attend the meeting because he had been out of the country on official duty.

“I was in Arusha on official duty; that is why I did not make it,” he told the Sunday Nation.

The wrangles in the party have a familiar form – primarily pitting sitting MPs against their opponents.

Members fear that the popularity of the party is waning because of internal discontent.

Within the Gusii region, there is a feeling that the Luo Nyanza region took the lion’s share of government appointments.

Chris Bichage, who unsuccessfully contested the Nyaribari Chache seat on the party’s ticket, said the PM needs to go back to the drawing board, warning that failure to do so would cause further problems.

“Let us be honest, the feeling is that the grassroots feel short-changed,” he said.

But the PM downplayed talk of internal fights, saying it was normal for people to jostle for positions within the party.

He accused those who lost in the party primaries and General Election of seeking to undermine the sitting MPs, saying that such people were “scoring own goals”.

Mr Odinga is expected to meet ODM delegates from Western Province on Sunday.