Raila to address ODM women at national convention in Kisumu

ODM leader Raila Odinga will address a National Orange Women Convention in Kisumu today.

Party secretary-general Agnes Zani said this is part of their the party's campaign plans to reach out to women to strengthen Mr Odinga’s 2017 presidential bid.

“We intend to reach all women across the 47 counties. Plans for women include fielding many female aspirants and strategies for winning,” Dr Zani told the Nation.

Dr Zani said, “The bigger agenda is voter mobilisation and registration and tapping into women for active political participation for change.”

She said the party will hold the women summit in all the 47 counties to be addressed by Mr Odinga, adding that they will run concurrently with the ongoing youth meetings, dubbed Kikao.

She said the Cord leader is also keen on holding consultations with elders across the country.

Mr Odinga has already met Nandi and Kipsigis elders and on Tuesday he met Kuria elders in Migori County.

ODM secretary for women affairs Beth Syengo has confirmed that Mr Odinga will host about 2,000 women at the summit, called the Wamama Mbele Pamoja, at Tom Mboya Labour College in Kisumu today.

FEMALE ASPIRANTS

“This convention will bring together women [from] across the country and female aspirants. We will then roll out the programme in all the 47 Counties. Our main target is to spread our party leader’s gospel as we gear up for the next elections,” Ms Syengo said.

She said the party is targeting more than 100,000 women in the country who will in turn reach out to more supporters to woe them to campaign for Mr Odinga’s presidential bid.

“We want to focus on four major roles. The function of women in terms of mobilisation, voter and national identity card registration and delivery votes to Raila Odinga in 2017,” said Ms Syengo.

The ODM official stated that the party plans to meet women across the country in two months’ time before they could be engaged in “vigorous campaigns for the party leader.”

Ms Syengo said Mr Odinga’s engagement with the women will focus on how to increase the number of female candidates in elective seats.

“Our party leader respects affirmative action and his engagement with the women will enhance more opportunities for women in the party and the coming elections,” she said.

Dr Zani said that on Saturday, Mr Odinga will continue with his youth programme, where he is expected to hold the party’s fourth youth session in Kilifi County.

The party held its first youth forum in Mombasa County in May and the second one in Kakamega in June. On October 15, Mr Odinga addressed a similar session in Kisii County.

ODM chairman John Mbadi told the Nation the party is targeting at least 5,000 youth per county.

“We are keen on meeting the youth so that they can have an opportunity to engage our party leader. We want to use entrepreneurship, innovation, and training as some of the strategies of ensuring the youth are empowered,” Mr Mbadi said.

SUPPORT WOMEN

The women forum comes barely a day after the Kenya Network of Women Deputy Governors, through its chairperson Ruth Odinga, urged political parties to support women to ascend to power.

Ms Odinga, the Kisumu deputy Governor, said there is a need to have women as governors to end the domination of the Council of Governors (CoG) by men.

She lamented that out of the 47 governors, who are all men, only nine of their deputies are women though the Constitution gives women an equal opportunity with men.

“We want political parties to ensure women win tickets to challenge men in the gubernatorial seats because they are not a preserve of male,” she said.

Ms Odinga is the only woman who has declared her interest in unseating Governor Jack Ranguma in the upcoming general election.