ODM party has set up a six-member board to oversight the party’s secretariat, which internal audit released in April put at the centre of the rot in the outfit.
Party chairman John Mbadi will chair the new organ.
Others on the board are Edwin Sifuna (secretary general), former Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire (treasurer), EALA MP Abdikadir Aden (organising secretary) and two members elected by NEC.
This move is among radical steps ODM has taken to professionalise the secretariat as the party bids to win back supporters’ confidence ahead of the next elections.
The task-force had been fronting secretary general Edwin Sifuna to take charge of the board
But a source who attended last week's two-day leaders' meeting in Nakuru told the Star that members were opposed to Sifuna heading a board which is supposed to oversee the secretariat which he (Sifuna) heads.
“There were murmurs about the SG overseeing himself. It was then decided that the chairman replace secretary general as the head of this new creation,” the source told Star.
The party NEC has already settled on ODM Women League leader Beth Syengo and party’s Secretary for Labour and Human Resource Development Mike Rubia to fill in the two NEC slots.
According to party insiders, the Board will veto day-to-day party activities and ensure harmony among various party organs.
The Board will report directly to the National Executive Council.
Apart from overseeing the secretariat, the board will also be responsible for the recruitment, deployment and disciplining staff at Orange House.
The taskforce team had questioned the recruitment process of the Orange House staff saying it was a one-man-show with no known set qualifications standards.
“There seems to be dissatisfaction by some members of staff who believe that the operations of the secretariat are determined and driven by less than a handful of the staff,” the task force report said.
NEC held a special meeting to deliberate on recommendations of the report of the task force chaired by Catherine Mumma which was conducted a comprehensive audit of the party’s performance over the past elections.
The findings painted a dysfunctional secretariat dogged with accountability issues, chaotic and predetermined nominations, lack of structured communication, opaque decision-making and claims of internal graft.
The National Secretariat appears ‘divorced’ and detached from the grassroot Party membership because it lacks a cascaded reporting structure to build its knowledge base, the report said.
Mumma team linked the dysfunctional secretariat to the dwindling fortunes of the party adding that the party cannot survive a day in the absence of Party Leader Raila Odinga.
“The big following is credited to the charismatic party leader, who is one of the leading revolutionaries that are responsible for the transformation of the political landscape in Kenya,” Mumma team said.
“Ironically nearly all the interviewees do not believe that the party can survive without the current Party leader: this is clearly a problem.”
The Star has also established that the Party is also in the process of identifying and replacing all inactive officials as part of its reform strategy.
(edited by O. Owino)
