• Party kicks off a series of consultative meetings with its branch officials to draw the restoration roadmap.
• Also plans to use the money to conduct party branch elections countrywide next year.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY
Raila Odinga’s ODM is planning to leverage the Sh4 billion it was recently awarded by the Court of Appeal to revamp ahead of the 2022 election.
Last week, a three-judge bench awarded the party Sh4.1 billion. The court directed Parliament to pay the money, which was backdated to November 1, 2011, in instalments until the entire amount is cleared.
Meantime, the party is rolling out an elaborate plan to rejuvenate itself as it prepares to mount yet another challenge to produce the country’s fifth President.
Already, it has kicked off a series of consultative meetings with its branch officials to draw the roadmap.
The first meeting was held last Thursday where secretary general Edwin Sifuna met all the 47 county chairpersons at a Nairobi hotel.
Next month, the county bosses will meet Raila at Orange House, Nairobi, for further discussions.
Raila will next Saturday meet the party National Executive Council at Lake Elementaita Lodge in Nakuru county in yet another forum aimed at reviving the outfit.
The party wants to use the cash to resuscitate all its dormant branches across the country. It plans to have the branch offices up and running, complete with staff to enhance its presence at the grassroots.
ODM has trained its eyes on 2022 polls, with insiders intimating the outfit will field Raila to take on Jubilee's William Ruto and other contestants in the race for the country's top seat.
On Friday, Nairobi branch chairman George Aladwa said restructuring and reviving grassroots offices were the hallmark of the meeting.
“We want the money to trickle down to aid the operations of the party at the county, constituency, ward level and polling centre level,” he said.
Aladwa, who is also the chairman of the party’s county chairpersons, said their branches will be vibrant to enhance the party’s visibility.
They also plan to use the money to conduct party branch elections countrywide next year.
Aladwa said ODM's fortunes have been diminishing in some parts of the country after its officials either defected or resigned in the run-up to the 2017 General Election.
“The party cannot perform in an area where it doesn’t have an office. Some of our officials moved to other parties, others contested as independent and others now want to come up,” he said.
The Makadara MP said restructuring the party will go a long way in addressing the thorny issue of party primaries, which, according to him, cost the party dearly in 2017.
“We also want to prepare early for party primaries. In the last elections, we lost many seats because of the way we handled the primaries. Tickets were just being dished out and the same old guards recycled. We want this cured by early primaries managed by duly elected branch officials,” he said.
Edited by R.Wamochie