Governor Joseph ole Lenku has dismissed as unrealistic talks about reservations of some seats between ODM and Jubilee parties in Kajiado ahead of April nominations.
Speaking to the Star on Sunday over the phone, Lenku dismissed a statement attributed to county ODM chairman Tarayia ole Kores which stated ODM will take the senate position, Woman Representative seat, and three MP seats plus 13 MCA positions.
Kores on Tuesday last week while addressing ODM aspirants in Ongata Rongai, claimed ODM and Jubilee had agreed on the zoning of the county.
He said the remaining seats of the governor, two MPs, and 12 MCAs would be reserved for Jubilee.
The county ODM leader even named Kajiado Central, Kajiado East, and Kajiado North constituencies as the designated seats for ODM on top of the senate seat.
On Sunday Lenku said only two seats of the president and Kajiado governor positions had been agreed upon by the ODM leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta, and not any other positions in the region.
“ODM and Jubilee parties under the Azimio La Umoja movement agreed to support the sitting governor in Kajiado but talks of zoning the region were never discussed,” Lenku said.
The governor said Kores did not consult him before issuing the statement, which has caused fear and uncertainty among the Jubilee politicians in the county.
“Jubilee currently has four MPs, a senator, a Woman Representative position, and about 20 MCAs. What is Kores telling Kajiado when he calls a press conference to claim that some seats have been reserved for ODM?” asked Lenku.
Kajiado North politician Parsimei Gitau dismissed the claims attributed to Kores terming them “pedestrian, myopic and wishful thinking”.
Parsimei, who is vying for the Kajiado North parliamentary seat on the Jubilee party ticket accused Kores of peddling lies to “befit his mission” and confusing the electorate.
“This is a myopic and naive statement coming from the mouth of a man deemed to be representing the views of ODM, which is a partner of Jubilee party in the Azimio,” Parsimei said.
He said Kajiado North and Kajiado East have Jubilee MPs and wondered what formula Kores used to come up with that equation.
“I am in Jubilee and I have already paid my nomination fees. So when did Jubilee and ODM sit down to decide who will vie for Kajiado North parliamentary seat?” Parsimei asked.
On Tuesday last week, Kores had claimed ODM would back the re-election of governor Lenku.
In a statement read by Kores in Ongata Rongai after meeting with all the party aspirants, he said it had been agreed the party will join hands with Jubilee to back Lenku’s re-election bid.
Kajiado North MP Joseph Manje, who is former governor David Nkedianye's running-mate said his boss moved out of ODM because of “trust issues”.
Manje was reacting to Kores’ statement last week when he claimed that ODM had not consented to the move by Nkedianye to Jubilee and, therefore, will not receive support from the Orange party.
Manje said Nkedianye, who moved to Jubilee, about two weeks ago, had paid his nomination fees and, therefore, no particular candidate has been picked by the Azimio la Umoja coalition to run for the governor.
Kores had claimed the former governor betrayed ODM members at a time they needed all the support to achieve their political aspirations.
“Further, this unprecedented shift of loyalty from ODM by Nkedianye is an apt example of the pursuit of personal and selfish political goals at the expense of the party leader Raila and everyone else,” Kores said.
-Edited by SKanyara
