Top ODM party leadership will hit the campaign trail in Kibra next week to drum up support for Bernard Imran Okoth in the November 7 parliamentary by-election.
Deputy party leaders Hassan Joho (Mombasa governor) and Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) will be deployed to the constituency to bolster campaigns for Imran.
National chairman John Mbadi will also join the campaign team before party leader Raila Odinga joins the bandwagon on November 3 as the campaign enters the home straight.
The leaders will address a series of rallies and town hall meetings that have been lined up before the by-election.
“This coming Sunday, after the Mashujaa Day, we will hold rallies in Lindi and Laini Saba wards. Joho and Oparanya will lead the rallies,” ODM Nairobi chairman George Aladwa said.
The Makadara MP, who has been coordinating grassroots campaigns in the constituency, said Joho and Oparanya will also conduct door-to-door visits to win voters over.
Jubilee leaders allied to Kieleweke wing of the ruling party will also join the ODM brigade on the ground.
Aladwa said that Raila will join the leaders in the last rally on November 3 at the Kamukunji Grounds in the constituency.
“We have demarcated the constituency in a way that will enable us to reach every door in Kibra. This is an ODM constituency and the strategy we have deployed will enable us to recapture the seat," Aladwa said.
ODM has controlled Kibra for more than two decades with Raila enjoying a mammoth following in the slum constituency.
However, the party’s grip of the constituency has been threatened by Jubilee candidate McDonald Mariga and ANC’s Eliud Owalo who want to wrestle the seat from ODM.
Mariga and Owalo have both also intensified campaigns. Deputy President William Ruto is the engine behind Mariga’s growing influence in the area.
The DP has been hosting delegations from the constituency in his Karen home and campaigning for the ex-footballer.
Owalo, on the other hand, enjoys the support of ANC leader Musalia Mudavadi who has a considerable following in the area.
But Aladwa took issue with Jubilee, claiming that the party has been bribing and manipulating voters.
“Voter bribery is going on in Kibra and we want to ask IEBC to be vigilant and ban candidates who are bribing voters and buying ID cards,” he said.
Edited by R.Wamochie
