Ojaamong rejects calls to dissolve Cord parties

Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong
Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong

Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong has backed the use of negotiated democracy during the selection of candidates for various seats in the 2017 general election.

Ojaamong, who backed the idea of registering Cord as a single corporate party, said affiliate parties should be allowed to field candidates in areas they have a large following.

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"We need a realistic chance of winning next year's polls when ODM, Wiper, Ford Kenya and 10 other affiliated parties retain their identities instead of dissolving them like Jubilee Party," he said.

"Dissolving parties will be tantamount to killing multi-party systems in Kenya which citizens fought for through the repeal of Section 2A of the constitution," he said at the weekend.

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Ojaamong, at a press conference at the Busia Agricultural Training Center, added that many people sacrificed their lives to realise the dream.

He said Cord risks losing many seats to JAP if the 13 parties forming the coalition will be allowed to field candidates in all 290 constituencies across the country.

"Before arriving at that decision, the Cord secretariat should gather intelligence from

the grassroots to establish which parties were popular in certain regions," the governor said.

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He cited that Ford Kenya, for instance, is popular in Bungoma and Trans Nzoia, the way ODM is in Nyanza and parts of western; Wiper taking command in Eastern region.

"Those parties should be allowed to field candidates in areas they have comparative advantage," Ojaamong said.

He said those who are clamoring for the dissolution of all parties want to use shortcuts to the Presidency.

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