Mung’aro urged to ditch ODM

Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro has been asked to abandon ODM as “there is a plot in the party to frustrate him”.

At the same time, Mr Mung’aro has denied being a Jubilee mole as alleged by a splinter group of 36 Coast leaders who want him out.
This group is headed by Mvita MP Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir.

Speaking in Malindi Thursday, former Grand National Party treasurer Jamal Mohammed, Narc Kenya Malindi branch chairman Ali Twalib Ali, former Malindi deputy mayor Mohamed Jurmy and other leaders told Mr Mung’aro to quit ODM “if the on-going scheme to frustrate him does not stop”.

Mr Jamal said Mr Mung’aro, who is the Cord minority chief whip in the National Assembly, was using his personal resources to market the party in Coast.

“We are calling on party leader Raila Odinga to intervene. ODM was voted for overwhelmingly in Coast and in Kilifi County partly due to Mr Mung’aro’s personal input. What did we get? Only the chief whip position.

If Mr Odinga allows Mr Mung’aro to be thrown out, the party will suffer a major blow in Coast,” he said.

The leaders said they supported Mr Mung’aro’s initiative of bringing about Coast unity through the formation of a party ahead of the 2017 General Election.

DABASO DECLARATION

“We fully support the Dabaso Declaration that approved a plan to have a political party in 2017 that will field a presidential candidate.

Mr Mung’aro has been spearheading this plan and we are solidly with him,” Mr Jamal said.

Mr Mung’aro, who has been closely associated with President Kenyatta, has been branded a Jubilee mole in some circles.

He has denied the allegations, saying being friends with the President did not make him a Jubilee mole.

His friendship with the Head of State dates back to the Moi era when, as a young man, Mr Kenyatta used to frequent Malindi and holiday at the Lion in the Sun, a prestigious resort owned by Italian billionaire Flavio Briatore where Mr Mung’aro was the general manager.

Early in the week, five Coast MPs led by Mr Shariff Nassir held a meeting in Nairobi in a failed bid to oust Mr Mung’aro from the party position.

Another group of 15 legislators led by Wundanyi MP Thomas Mwadeghu met a day later at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nairobi and declared their support for Mr Mung’aro, who is also chairman of the Coast Parliamentary Group.

The MPs threatened to pull out of ODM enmasses if Mung’aro was ousted saying he had done done nothing wrong to warant his removal.

Mr Odinga who met the group after their meeting dismissed the issue of moles saying there were no Jubilee moles in ODM.

“There are no moles here. No one is a mole,” said Odinga after meeting the Coast MPs.