Raila Odinga's former aide Eliud Owalo is on a war path with the family of the ODM leader, which he has accused of
planning to rig him out of a parliamentary race.
Owalo, who was Raila's presidential campaign manager in 2013, alleged an elaborate scheme to impose his daughter Rosemary as the Kibra ODM candidate in the 2017 polls.
He said in a letter on Thursday that there were verifiable reports of the plot to impose Rosemary “on the good people of Kibra constituency”.
"If indeed there are such plans, then with a lot of disdain, one is left wondering about the rationale behind the recent invitation by the party for prospective candidates for all elective positions to submit their applications," he said in his letter.
He noted applications would not make sense if nominees for some
positions, "including but not limited to Kibra constituency have already been arbitrarily decided beforehand".
Read:
The letter lifted the lid on the tension that has gripped aspirants concerning the possibility of unfair ODM nominations.
Rosemary has not outrightly declared her interest for the seat but her political maneuvers, in the constituency previously led by her father, have left tongues wagging.
Owalo, a management consultant, warned that ODM stands to lose moral authority for advocating for credible and impartial polls with the IEBC if it does not manage its own internal primaries.
He underlined that an endorsement of Raila's daughter would be wrong as it would be
against ODM's philosophy of free and fair nominations.
The aspirant
pleaded with Raila to accord the people what he termed their “inalienable democratic right” to elect leaders of their choice for all elective posts.
“With all the pre-requisite humility and based on the catastrophic consequences of botched ODM nominations in the past, which are well within your knowledge, my plea to the party is to accord the people of Kibra and any other else for that matter, their inalienable democratic right to elect leaders as per the dictates of the constitution,”he said.
Raila's last two presidential campaigns have been bungled by chaotic nominations. The new allegations put him in an awkward situation as he has been
championing opposition unity in what could be his last stab at the top job.
But this is not the first battle Owalo is waging against ODM's top leadership.
He warned in September Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho, Raila's second in command, against endorsing candidates in Nairobi.
“I advise that you devote your weekend’s political activities in Nairobi solely and exclusively to marketing Raila Odinga 2017,” he told the Governor.
“However, should there be any departure from the above, through overt or covert actions, to achieve mundane, petty and parochial hidden or malicious intentions such as marketing certain preferred ODM 2017 parliamentary candidates, whether in Kibra or anywhere else for that matter, be it directly or by implication, then kindly get it from me that some of us will resist in the strongest terms possible," he said.
Read:
Also:
Raila's spokesperson Dennis Onyango neither answered phone calls nor replied messages for comment on the matter.
Rosemary's spokesperson Jack Okinyi said they had seen the letter but would not comment on it as it was addressed to the party leader.