- Joho tell Tangatanga members to resign from their sponsoring parties and seek a fresh mandate
- 'It is quite embarrassing and disheartening to see the DP preside over public events where his troops issue disparaging statements targeting the President and our party leader.'
ODM leaders have cautioned Deputy President William Ruto and his allies against making disparaging remarks against President Uhuru Kenyatta and former PM Raila Odinga.
Deputy party leader Hassan Joho and Nairobi branch chairman George Aladwa warned against unwarranted attacks at a time when the head of state and the opposition chief are uniting the country.
Joho dared the DP and his allies to cut links with their parties to gauge their popularity. He demanded respect for the handshake duo, challenging the Tangatanga members to decamp and seek a fresh mandate at the ballot if they have lost confidence in the leadership of their sponsoring parties.
"It is quite embarrassing and disheartening to see the DP preside over public events where his troops are issuing disparaging statements targeting the President and our party leader Raila Amollo Odinga," Aladwa said.
"The DP should also stop calling out party leaders using unprintable words in the name of seeking political mileage."
Joho further termed it hypocritical for elected leaders to attack their sponsoring parties while continuing to earn salaries as a result of the same outfits.
“These people want to say their parties have failed the people but still continue earning salaries and allowances on the basis of a mandate given to them by voters loyal to the same parties,” he said in a statement.
"They cannot and will not quit and seek fresh mandate because they are not sure they will win and they are not sure they are ready to be out of power.”
His comments come at a time when Tangatanga legislators from Coast have criticised ODM and Jubilee following the Msambweni by-election won by a pro-Ruto independent candidate.
Feisal Bader garnered 15,251 votes to trounce ODM's Omar Boga who secured 10,444 votes in the hotly contested poll.
The Coast rebels, carried away by the Msambweni victory, have also announced plans to form a regional party to completely lock out ODM from the region.
The legislators said the victory marked the beginning of the end of ODM and have now embarked on the formation of an outfit to 'wipe out' the Orange party.
“With the results that we posted in Msambweni on December 15, we believe it is the beginning of the end of ODM,” Lunga Lunga MP Khatib Mwashetani of Jubilee said last month.
But in a statement, Joho insisted there is nothing new behind the planned formation of a regional political outfit, dismissing it as a survival tactic by leaders known for conmanship and fraud.
“Formation of a new political party will only serve to divide the people further and undermine the unity that the region has enjoyed in ODM and which has enabled us to push our agenda as a united region on the national stage,” the second-term county chief said.
Meanwhile, Aladwa urged Uhuru and Raila to give directions on the Nairobi gubernatorial by-election. He expressed confidence that the candidate backed by the two leaders will carry the day. The poll has been scheduled for next month.
The Makadara lawmaker told ODM supporters to remain calm as they wait for the final direction from the handshake duo. There has been confusion on whether the party will field a candidate or sponsor joint candidates for governor and deputy governor with Jubilee.
This follows conflicting information that it had withdrawn from the race, despite the party's National Elections Board clearing Orange Women League president Beth Syengo and former Homa Bay gubernatorial aspirant Sam Wakiaga to vie. Aladwa said a communication from the two leaders will settle the matter.
“As ODM Nairobi branch chairman, I want to make it clear that ODM is waiting for a joint resolve and communiqué from President Kenyatta and our party leader Raila Odinga on the way forward regarding this poll,” Aladwa said in a statement.
“I understand that Nairobians, more so ODM supporters, want a clear direction on how they should approach the election. I, therefore, call upon our esteemed supporters to wait for the official communication from our party leaders.