- Savula says Kutima should not blame me for his own weaknesses.
- DAP has emerged as the main headache for ODM in Western.
Image: HILTON OTENYO
Image: HILTON OTENYO
Lugari MP Ayub Savula has denied reports he is being used by ODM to deny Kakamega deputy governor Philip Kutima the ticket for the governor race.
Savula said he is a man of his own and reports that he is working with outgoing Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya to stop Kutima in favour of ODM candidate Fernandez Barasa were falsehoods driven by panic.
“I am a self-made politician. Kutima should not blame me for his own weaknesses. We know he cannot even win an MCA seat,” Savula said on Monday.
The party is said to be split down the middle on who between Savula and Kutima should be given the gubernatorial ticket for Kakamega. Savula is DAP-K deputy party leader.
The faction leaning towards Kutima has accused Savula of being an ODM mole in the party and was being used to curtail Kutima so that Barasa can win.
“There have been meetings to hammer out consensus between the two aspirants but Savula has insisted that he must be given the ticket as the deputy party leader," said a party official who declined to be named.
"We have information that he is on the payroll of top ODM leadership to wreck the party from within,” added the official.
But Kakamega county ODM secretary Geoffrey Mitalo said DAP-K should fight its wars without dragging in ODM to cover their deficiencies.
“Ask me about ODM issues but on DAP-K, I know nothing and we have nothing to do with them apart from supporting the Azimio One Kenya coalition presidential candidate Raila Odinga together,” he said.
DAP-K patron Eugene Wamalwa’s personal assistant Kizito Temba said the party recognises the two candidates as equals.
Temba said the party will encourage the two leaders to engage in guided and structured talks and reach an agreement on who among them should be the candidate.
“In the event the two fail to reach a consensus, the party will subject them to a fair nomination process to pick one of them for the ticket,” he told the Star on phone.
Savula said the delay by the party to issue nomination certificates to candidates who are unopposed was caused by the change of party officials.
“The party was registered using third parties and we are waiting for the gazettement of the right set of officials by the Registrar of Political Parties so as to give certificates,” he said.
DAP has emerged as the main headache for ODM in Western. ANC and Ford Kenya which are in Kenya Kwanza alliance were raided in January by the newly formed outfit and almost left shells.
Edited by SKanyara