Ford Kenya will not agree to joint nominations in its Bungoma county stronghold and will field candidates for all positions. Secretary general Eseli Simiyu yesterday urged the other Cord affiliate parties to leave the county to Ford-K, as it has then upper hand.
He was addressing the press at the Ford Kenya offices in Kanduyi, Bungoma town. The Tongaren MP said only Ford-K has structures in Bungoma, unlike the other parties, which do not even have an office on the ground.
”We don’t want ODM and Wiper to field candidates in Bungoma. This is purely a Ford-K zone. Let our friends field their candidates in other regions where they are strong,” Eseli said. He said in 2013 they lost many seats to Cord affiliate parties.
Bungoma has 45 wards and nine constituencies. “We have strong candidates in Ford Kenya and we are not going to allow our partners to compete with us in our own region. This is our region and we control it. We need to have a say politically,” Eseli said.
He said the party has begun to popularise itself across in Bungoma and Trans Nzoia. Eseli urged those who defected to New Ford Kenya before it dissolved to merge into the Jubilee Party to come back to Ford-K.