Raila has the right to pick his preferred candidates, give direct party tickets – John Mbadi says amid claims of unfair nominations in ODM
ODM party national chairman John Mbadi has come out to defend the move by his party leader Raila Odinga to issue direct party tickets to some aspirants across the country.
This comes amid claims that the party overlooked some aspirants in favour of others who are purportedly close to the party's top hierarchy.
ODM has already handed direct tickets to Nathif Jama, the former Garissa governor who is seeking to recapture the seat, governor aspirants Fernandes Barasa (Kakamega) and Hamadi Boga (Kwale); MPs Tindi Mwale (Butere), Titus Khamala (Lurambi), Peter Nabulindo (Matungu), Christopher Aseka (Khwisero), Emmanuel Wangwe (Navakholo) and Sylvanus Anami (Shinyalu).
All of them, except Boga, were handed the tickets at the weekend by Raila during his tour of the Western region. The move immediately sparked an uproar as their opponents rushed out of the party in anger, claiming mistreatment and lack of democracy in the outfit.
Mbadi has, however, come to the defence of his party noting that the party's leadership has the right to choose candidates to fly their ticket.
Citing his case where he was forced to drop out of the Homa Bay gubernatorial race in favour of another candidate, Mbadi said in an interview with KTN that the party decided to "bench" some aspirants after noting that there were some aspirants who were more likely to win the election than the others.
"In a football match, it is the coach who decides who plays where. You might want to be a striker to score goals but your coach tells you that you are better off in the defence and therefore you take that position," Mbadi said while using football analogy to explain why some aspirants were given direct ODM party tickets at the expense of others.
Adding: "I can also equate it to where you are in a football match and the match has reached a certain stage so it is very clear that you are going to get to the final and so the coach may decide to bench some star players and I think that is what has happened in my case."
On its side, the party defended itself against claims of unfairness in giving out the tickets noting that the exercise was done according to the law and the party's constitution.
Chairperson of ODM National Elections Board (NEB) Catherine Mumma said they were pursuing different methods including consensus among aspirants to minimise animosity.
“We have encouraged consensus among aspirants to reduce animosity amongst themselves,” Mumma said.
