ODM officials in Nyaribari Chache, Kisii, have promised a spirited fight to win the parliamentary seat in the next general election.
Regional party chief Wilfred Bosire on Sunday said the party has already begun an ambitious member registration drive ahead of next year's polls.
“Today marks the first of such an exercise as we roll up our sleeves; we must secure a win for the party this time round,” Bosire said.
The officials target 50,000 members.
On Friday, the party received a boost after business mogul and two-time parliamentary candidate James Kenani dumped the Jubilee Party for ODM.
Bosire said they are anticipating more defections in the coming weeks as the party consolidates its support in the region. It currently has 10,000 registered members across the constituency.
“The poor registration has been due to poor leadership in the past, which we have since changed,” Bosire said.
Kenani, for his part, said ODM stands a better chance of winning the seat.
“Residents here sorely need to chart a new political roadmap. They, too, want their region to make headway in development. They want a fresh start," Kenani said.
Kenani has since launched his bid to wrest the seat from MP Richard Tongi. He appealed to the government to increase funding to constituencies to help cater to the burgeoning population of students in need of bursaries.
Speaking at Keumbu where issued Sh100,000 cheques to 25 university students as part of his donations to support eudcation, Kenani said the current allocations to NG-CDF are still insufficient to meet bursary demands.
He said the small support the learners receive from politicians may not be enough, hence the need for the government to increase the allocations.
“We need to interrogate if the resources the government is giving in the form of CDF, part of which is used to provide bursaries, is ever sufficient to address such problems in the villages and my answer is no.
"I believe more can still be done to leverage this system, enhance efficiency and expand the scope of those who need the bursary aids,” Kenani said.
The businessman added that hundreds of young people across the constituency are still trapped in low-paying menial jobs because they lack funds to enable them to advance their studies.
“You just walk in the villages and meet very bright young people doing menial jobs but having good grades and who only have a small boost to do vocational jobs in polytechnics,” he said.
The most agonising thing is to see a family organise a fundraiser but end up collecting far less than what they used to plan the event, he said.
“We can only build societies through enlightening our young people, but this must be done by strengthening systems and funding them adequately,” Kenani told journalists.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
