Former Kisumu Roads CEC seeks to register ‘alternative’ ODM party

A former Kisumu County County Executive Committee (CEC) member for Roads and Public Works Thomas Ondijo has now written to Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu seeking to register an 'alternative' ODM party.

Ondijo wants ODM to be divided into either ODM Mpya, ODM Asili or ODM Kamili asking the registrar to preserve either of the names for registration.

Ondijo, who served in the first term of Anyang Nyong'o's administration, was kicked out by the governor after they differed politically.

He was supporting former Kisumu Senator Fred Outa's earlier bid to run for governor.

But Outa would later pull out to support former Governor Jack Ranguma.

Yesterday, Ondijo told the press that he had notified the registrar and paid all the fees required.

"We want the people to have the free will to join either of the formations, if given the nod to proceed to register one," Ondijo said.

The former CEC is one of the architects who teamed up together with now Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) for Mining Fred Outa in first term of Nyong'o to campaign for him in Kisumu West.

He was one of the key financiers, but they fell out with Nyong'o when Outa started decampaigning the governor.

He said no one was behind his move, albeit, he has been a close ally of Outa.

He said it would be upon the registrar now to pick one of the suggested names to register, although their top preference is ODM Mpya.

ODM writes to registrar

But in a swift encounter, ODM wrote to the registrar asking her to dismiss such an application alleging a sinister motive to undermine the party and cause confusion in its membership.

In the protest letter signed by the ODM party Secretary General Edwin Sifuna and Chairman John Mbadi, the party told Nderitu not to allow some people to abuse the law.

"In as much as the law allows Kenyans singularly or in a group to exercise their constitutional rights to form political parties such law should be exercised within the ambit of the law," the ODM protest letter read in part.

Consequently, ODM urged the registrar not to allow anyone to try to cause or suggest by action that all was not well within the orange party's leadership.

"The application for reservations for a name or registration of a political party not only offends Section 8 of the Political Parties Act, but smacks of a sinister motive to cause confusion in the party and in the general public," the party leadership said.

Sifuna and Mbadi, therefore, demanded that the application be dismissed forthwith by upholding the rule of law to ensure sanity in management and registration of political parties arguing that the application did not meet the legal threshold.