STATEMENT BY GOVERNOR WYCLIFFE OPARANYA ON ODM MATTERS:
As Deputy Party Leader of the Orange Democratic Movement, I take great reservations to the utterances attributed to the party’s Secretary General Hon Ababu Namwamba to the effect that the Luhya community is being persecuted and undermined in ODM.
These utterances are unfortunate indeed and not befitting of a leader in the position Hon Namwamba holds. They are an embarrassment to the party and to the Luhya community that is solidly behind ODM.
Hon Namwamba’s utterances are dangerous to the extent that they seek to create non-existent divisions in the party along ethnic lines.
I wish to assure all ODM supporters that the party remains strong in Western Kenya and beyond and nobody should panic over Hon Namwamba’s utterances. The Luhya community is equally well represented and catered for in the party, holding key positions like that of Deputy Party Leader, Vice Chairman, Deputy Organizing Secretary and chairman of Disputes Tribunal, among others.
At the beginning of the 11th Parliament, the party was also kind enough to reward our support with the chairmanship of the powerful Public Accounts Committee, which went to Hon Namwamba and which we lost through reckless arrogance and selfishness.
It is not a secret that the Secretary General has been missing in action and failing to provide leadership at critical moments. He was missing as the party prepared to welcome its leader Hon Raila Odinga back into the country after a three month sabbatical in the US. The SG was missing throughout the Okoa Kenya pro-referendum campaign and lately he has been missing from all effort to disband and reform the IEBC. Yet reform of the IEBC is critical to ODM’s plans for ascending to power.
As we approach elections, many leaders will be seeking excuses for their failure in an effort to find their way back. ODM supporters must remain alert to such maneuvres and hold individuals to account for the positions they held.
H.E GOV. WYCLIFFE A OPARANYA
DEPUTY PARTY LEADER
ODM
22.06.2016
