Kisumu Central MP Fred Ouda has absolved Azimio presidential candidate Raila Odinga from the bungled ODM nominations in April.
He said Raila was not to be blamed but a section of ODM officials who were entrusted with the exercise.
“Raila was not in charge of the nominations. We cannot blame him for bungled nominations. We cannot burden Raila with such accusations because he is busy hunting for votes,” he said.
The primaries, Ouda said, saw popular candidates rigged out, thereby denying the electorate leaders of their choice.
The MP spoke during a public rally in Nyalenda B ward on Thursday after inspecting the ongoing construction of a three-storey building at Pandpieri Primary School. The project was funded by the Constituency Development Fund.
Ouda was accompanied by more than 10 MCA aspirants from Kisumu Central constituency.
He appealed to his supporters to turn out in large numbers on August 9 and vote for Raila.
The MP also hopes to be re-elected for a second term in office, saying he will beat his closest opponent, ODM candidate Joshua Oron, by a margin of 50,000 votes. Ouda is defending his seat as an independent candidate.
Ouda will be fighting against three other opponents to retain his seat.
The MP has been vigorously campaigning in Migosi, Nyalenda, Railway wards. He is expected to tour Manyatta in Kondele ward as the campaign trail for the August polls enters homestretch.
Ouda said his development track record speaks volumes, especially on infrastructure in schools and roads.
“There is no school in my constituency which I have failed to build. I have CDF funded projects in every school,” Ouda said.
He said he has fairly distributed bursaries to needy and bright children.
“I want to say sorry to those who might have missed and I pledge to correct where I went wrong in my second term. Vote for me to complete all my development projects,” Ouda said.
The MP said he sponsored 238 students to various secondary schools under the Fred Ouda Foundation without touching CDF money.
“When I was given money to buy a car, I decided to deposit that money into account, rallied my friends and raised Sh8 million to give full scholarships for children from Form 1 to Form 4,” Ouda said.
He appealed to voters to give him another five-year-term.
“With all the mega projects I have done and even standing with you whenever you are facing challenges, why do you want to vote me out of the seat my people ? What wrong have I done that I cannot be forgiven?” Ouda asked.
Edited by A.N
