We owe you nothing, ODM tells Nasa partners

ODM National Treasurer Timothy Bosire

What you need to know:

  • ODM National Treasurer Mr Timothy Bosire, questioned the assets Mr Wetangúla was referring to from their party adding that they do not have their Nasa partner’s debt.
  • He said Nasa affiliates were not party to their Sh4 billion political parties’ windfall since that was courtesy of ODM’s numerical strength in Parliament.

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has told off its partners in the National Super Alliance (Nasa) over claims of frustration in the Coalition.

This follows the reorganisation of House committees to remove members whose loyalty has been questioned.

Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi and Ford Kenya’s Moses Wetang’ula, have faulted the new changes that saw Butere MP Tindi Mwale (ANC) de-whiped from the Energy Committee and Chris Wamalwa (Ford Kenya) as deputy minority whip.

Mr Mudavadi: said: "We are seeing it has come to a point when a barometer and thermometer are trying to find out which of them is more hollow than the other."

CHANGES

 He went on: "Changes in committee leadership depends on the provisions of Standing Orders and agreement by members."

Mr Wetangúla on his party said: “ODM is doing everything possible to try and force the collapse of Nasa. But there is the issue of assets and liabilities before we can pronounce Nasa as dissolved.”

But ODM, through its National Treasurer Mr Timothy Bosire, questioned the assets Mr Wetangúla was referring to from their party adding that they do not have their Nasa partner’s debt.

He said Nasa affiliates were not party to their Sh4 billion political parties’ windfall since that was courtesy of ODM’s numerical strength in Parliament.

In the Nasa Coalition, he said; “we only agreed on one ground – presidential support.”

“We agreed to support Raila Odinga as a presidential candidate in the August 8, 2017 presidential elections whose results were later invalidated by the Supreme Court and we never took part in the October 26 repeat election.”

RAILA’S VOTES

“Therefore, Mr Wetangúla should not claim that they contributed to Raila’s votes. Which votes is he referring to when we never took part in the repeat polls?” Mr Bosire posed.

He pointed out that since the Nasa deal was purely on the presidential support, “where we have to share assets is at the level of presidential support which we did not participate in.”

Mr Wetangúla had told Mr Odinga to rein in his troops and accord other affiliate parties in the coalition respect.

 “The votes Mr Odinga got did not come from his ODM supporters alone. Our supporters in ANC, Ford Kenya and Wiper voted for him and it is unfortunate we are now being bullied and as if our support did not matter,” Mr Wetang’ula said.

RESULTS INVALIDATED

But Mr Bosire quipped; “If Mr Wetangúla says the votes Raila got were based on our support and their own contribution, we fail to understand which votes he is talking about yet we did not participate in the repeat election held on October 26, 2017. That is the election whose results were validated.”

“The issues of August 8, 2017 are neither here nor there to be considered. I hold Mr Wetang’ula in high esteem as a senior lawyer but when it comes to this argument, I register my doubt whether he is being honest,” the ODM Treasurer said.

He told the Nasa partners to revisit their Coalition pact on the terms of engagement.

“We have been in other coalitions and co-operations in the past. As members of NDP, we were in a cooperation with Kanu, we later joined Narc as LDP and as ODM formed Cord – Coalition for Reforms and Democracy. Once the mission is achieved or failed, either that is the end of that alliance or coalition or it is restructured.”

NASA PARTNERS

Mr Bosire accused their Nasa partners of abandoning them during their times of need.

“As we fought for our rightful shares of funds in court, they were nowhere to help us. During the swearing in of our party leader Raila Odinga on January 30, 2018, they disappeared in thin air and finally at the Kibra by elections in November last year, they fielded candidates against us, why do they still believe Nasa is alive,” posed Mr Bosire.

He said their partners should not expect anything from them.

“I am talking as a National Treasurer who cannot trace an assert that we jointly own between ODM and Nasa parties.”

“But when we were in Cord together there was an agreement and any money we got as Cord, we shared. For Nasa, there wasn’t any such a deal,” Mr Bosire said.