• Ghati on Monday won the primaries with 37,792 votes, flooring her archrival Fatuma Mohammed who garnered 23,552 votes.
• Mohammed had to be separated from Ghati as she swore "to tear her to pieces using my own hands.” She also tried to grab the tablet used to relay the results.
Nominated MP Dennitah Ghati won the ODM ticket for Migori Woman Representative despite calls by party leader Raila Odinga to drop her bid.
Ghati did not hold rallies ahead of the ODM primaries, did not print banners, flyers or even posters. Instead, she relied on grassroots mobilisation in her strongholds.
She on Monday won the primaries with 37,792 votes, flooring her archrival Fatuma Mohammed who garnered 23,552 votes.
Businesswomen Zilpa Audline and Millicent Kajimba got 10,888 and 3,520 votes, respectively.
The results sparked angry reactions from her rivals with Mohammed trying to disrupt the process at Migori TTC tallying centre. Others walked out in a huff.
Mohammed had to be pulled away from Ghati as she swore "to tear her to pieces using my own hands.” She also tried to grab the tablet used to relay the results.
“Ghati was not popular and even Raila told her twice to step aside, but she refused. I won this nomination the same way I did in the last two elections and my victory was given to others. This is unfair,” Mohammed said.
She said she was loyal to the party in 2013 when Ghati was first elected as the Woman Representative and in the last polls when Pamela Odhiambo was elected. She said despite her loyalty, she has lost for the third time.
“I have been very fair to the party. Why me? Why me? I have been spending millions and I sold my house worth Sh25 million to prove that I want to be a woman representative,” she said.
Kajimba claimed the elections were rigged.
While speaking to the Star, ODM chairman Philip Makabongo denied claims there was rigging.
He said Mohammed called to complain about the results but he told her to be patient until every vote is counted.
"The results were done electronically and there was no room for rigging. It was free and fair," Makabongo said.
While speaking at her house in Migori town after the tallying, Ghati who hails from the minority Kuria community, said the win was a big statement that the county was cosmopolitan.
“I want to thank Migori voters for giving me the chance to pick up from where I left. I will work and empower everybody, especially people living with disability like me,” she said.
Ghati started campaigning for the seat she lost to Odhiambo, before Raila told her to step down on January 20 when he was installed as an elder at Kehancha Stadium.
“Ghati should not be struggling with others, her loyalty has been good and I will ensure she takes part in my government,” Raila said.
But Ghati ignored Raila's call and paid her nomination fee for the woman representative seat.
To avoid appearing like she was antagonising Raila openly, she decided to campaign through grassroots mobilisation, especially in her Kuria backyard.
Her rivals took the popular approach of hiring and branding cars, mega rallies and roadshows complete with banners and flyers.
Edited by A.N