MP Owino wants ODM to declare elected party officials in Ndhiwa

Ndhiwa MP Martin Owino wants ODM to make public the list of officials elected in the last grassroots elections to avoid ongoing confusion over the party leadership in his constituency.

This follows contentious ODM grassroots elections held last month in which two groups conducted parallel elections and came up with their own officials.

One faction is led by Jerry Odeny as the chairman and Ogina Nyabola as his vice. The other is led by Kanyamwa Kosewe MCA Nicholas Owaka as the chairman and Oscar Abote as his vice.

Each of the two factions claims to be bona fide officials of ODM in the constituency. During public forums, Owaka and Odeny introduce themselves as the chairman of ODM in Ndhiwa.

This causes confusion in the party leadership in Ndhiwa Constituency.

To avert the confusion, Owino wants ODM to intervene and declare the valid officials of ODM in the constituency.

Speaking when he launched the construction of the Sh84 million Ndhiwa Technical and Vocational Centre at Ochol village in Kanyamwa Kologi Ward, Owino said ODM should investigate and get facts to enable it to issue confirmation certificates to the valid officials to get rid of people who masquerade as the party officials.

According to Mr Owino, ODM conducted a successful grassroots election in Ndhiwa; hence, nobody should bring confusion.

“There is confusion, which makes people masquerade as ODM officials in Ndhiwa Constituency. I appeal to our party to intervene and issue certificates to the bona fide officials to prevent this confusion,” said Owino.

The MP said the intervention by ODM will enable its supporters to know their officials at different levels.

“Our party National Elections Committee should speed the declaration of results of the grassroots elections to enable the officials to start discharging their duties,” added Owino.

He said the ongoing confusion is tainting the party's image.

Elsewhere, Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang urged former ODM officials who lost their seats to continue supporting the party.

"Let us continue strengthening ODM despite the presence of other parties in this region, and this message also goes to the former officials who lost their positions in the grassroots elections,” said Kajwang.