Members of ODM-K Scandinavia will pick up their preferred Presidential candidate on Saturday April 14th 2007 at the Wananchi Pavillion in Stockholm. The decision was reached at by the Party’s Executive committee which met on Saturday March 10th at Wananchi Pavilion.
Majority of Committee members think that the issue of the Party’s preferred Presidential candidate needs to be sorted out because it is subverting debate about Party building and diverting attention on how the Party can help ODM-Kenya seize power this December when General elections will be held in Kenya.
“All paid up ODM-KS members will be informed in writing about the issue and invited to vote for their preferred candidate”, Mr. Munala, the Party’s Secretary, told KSB.
According to information availed to KSB, voting will be by secret ballot while the results will be announced the same day.
“members of ODM-KS are supporting different Presidential candidates and for us to focus on how to help the mother Party win elections in December, we need to put the issue of Presidential candidate behind us”, Mr. Munala told KSB, adding that those who think that ODM-K is on the brink of collapse will be in for a big surprise.
He said that if the candidate picked by ODM-KS is not the same candidate supporters in Kenya decide on, the Scandinavia branch will respect this verdict and move on to elections as a united force.
“As a Party branch, we have a right to decide on a candidate and by deciding on the date of doing so, we are operating within our democratic space”, Mr. Munala told KSB.
The Party’s leadership believes that it needs to take a position on the issue of Presidential candidate as a matter of urgency because the same issue has been the source of constant animosity and suspicions in ODM-Kenya.
“The issue is dividing ODM-Kenya supporters and for the Scandinavian branch, we believe that picking a candidate as soon as possible is a step in the right direction”, Mr. Munala said.
Party members will decide between Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, William Ruto, Najib Balala, Uhuru Kenyatta, Nazlin Omar, Musalia Mudavadi and Julia Ojiambo who all want to be the Party’s torch bearer. Mr. Munala told KSB that voting for the candidates by ODM-KS members was the only democratic way of resolving the issue in Scandinavia.
He said that ODM-KS members are politically mature and that they are in a position to handle the issue effectively. He said that members of his Party respected differences of choice especially on the issue of Presidential candidate but that once the Party picks up its choice, all members should be able to unite behind the candidate.
The Committee meeting was Chaired by Mrs Hellen Opwapo, the Party’s Chairlady while it was attended by all Party officials.
The Committee also prepared a list of activities the party will undertake in the coming weeks. The meeting resolved that in the coming period, the Party’s leadership will concentrate on consolidating its membership, recruit new members, organizing sessions for political education, fund raising to finance the newly opened ODM-KS Office in Stockholm and coming up with new ideas on how the Narc government could be brought down from power.
Okoth Osewe
About the Author
