- The fierce scramble by party stalwarts for EALA losts has thrown Odinga into dilemma.
- The ODM boss is also under immense pressure to reward longstanding loyalty.
Image: RAILA ODINGA/TWITTER
Opposition chief Raila Odinga's ODM party is increasingly unsettled over nominations for the East African Legislative Assembly.
This as it emerged that the party's parliamentary leadership is on Wednesday expected to come up with a list of the ODM preferred nominees.
Raila's key allies and confidants–including her own daughter Winnie–are coming up against each other in a vicious political battle to secure places in EALA.
Apart from Winnie, the other ODM nominees include party National Treasurer Timothy Bosire, former Mombasa gubernatorial candidate Suleiman Shabal and Beatrice Askul.
Ex-Shinyalu MP Justus Kizito and ODM National Elections Board Commisisoner Mohamed Diriye are also in the final list of six party bigwigs eyeing EALA posts.
The fierce political war in ODM could expose Raila's soft underbelly amid fears a final vote on the floor of Parliament could jolt regional and gender balance interests.
The opposition leader is said to be keen to ensure that the outcome reflects regional and gender balance, his key political credentials in his push for inclusivity.
Raila is also under pressure to reward longstanding loyalty and commitment to the party.
How to balance the high-stakes interests has pushed Raila and ODM to the edge.
Already the six candidates, who were nominated by the party to battle it out for the available two slots, have reportedly turned down any consensus building and want MPs to have the final say.
The two Houses of Parliament will on Thursday take a secret vote to elect Kenya's nine nominees to the regional Assembly.
The Star has established that the six ODM candidates have been camping in Parliament Buildings to seek votes from members ahead of the elections.
“The fight is intense than it seems, every nominee wants MPs to have the final say in Parliament when they vote on Thursday,” said a senior party stalwart aware of the situation.
Winnie had on Tuesday evening put up a strong case in defense of her nomination to EALA.
"The state of young Kenyans, East Africans and Africans is in dire strains, and I want to begin and to lift some of those people up," she said in an interview with Citizen TV.
Over the weekend, efforts by Western Kenya politicians to consolidate support for Kizito flopped after a meeting that was convened to rally MPs behind him aborted.
Who are the nominees?
Kizito ran on a DAP-K party ticket but lost his bid to defend his Shinyalu parliamentary seat after garnering 5,318 votes.
He emerged position three in the August 9 general elections.
The position was won by businessman Fredrick Ikana who contested on an ANC ticket after managing 17,533 votes.
Ex-area MP Silvers Anami Lusamula received 11,243 votes from the Shinyalu voters.
On the other hand, Shabal dropped his bid for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat and backed Abdulswamad Nassir who successfully managed to bag the seat on the ODM ticket.
Shabal was initially a Jubilee party bigwig in Mombasa but dumped the then ruling party in June 2021 as he eyed the ODM ticket to succeed Hassan Joho..
He would later join Raila's national presidential campaign team that traversed the country in search of vote in the August polls.
Diriye, is a former Wajir South who served between 2013-2017 on the ODM ticket but lost in his bid to defend the seat.
Diriye did not contest in the 2022 polls as he was serving as a commissioner in the ODM elections Board.
Bosire, the ODM national treasurer, lost in his gubernatorial bid for Nyamira county in the last general election.
He served as Kitutu Masaba MP between 2013-2017 on the ODM ticket but lost in his attempt to recapture the seat in the 2017 polls.
Askul is an ODM Women League stalwart who served as a County Executive Committee Member in Turkana county between 2013-2015.
She would later be fired as Water, Irrigation and Agriculture executive by then county governor Joshphat Nanok.
Askul served in the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance panel for the selection of Raila's presidential running mate.
Winnie was in charge of operations in Raila's presidential campaigns and is seen as the ODM boss' possible political heir.