- ODM starts regional engagements this Friday. Meetings culminate in national declaration in Nairobi.
- Raila fights off allegations that at age 76 he's too old to be president. Says his rivals should be watchful, they can be easily defeated if he decides to run.
Image: ANGWENYI GICHANA
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has embarked on a massive rejuvenation of his traditional political bases, training his eyes on conquering new territories.
The ODM leader has lined up mega-regional meetings to revitalise the party in preparation for the next presidential contest.
Raila is seen as the best opposition candidate to face off against Deputy President William Ruto in 2022.
On Monday, Raila dismissed his political opponents who discount him in the 2022 presidential race on the grounds of his age, 76.
Raila told the politicians saying he is too old to be watchful.
He said rivals criticising him over his age can be easily be defeated in a political battle should he announced he will contest the presidency.
“Some people say Raila is already old and can easily be wrestled down in a political battle. We understand them because that’s how they express their fear of defeat,” Raila said.
He was addressing mourners during the burial of Russell Oranga, the brother-in-law of his sister, Akinyi Wenwah, in Kawahindi village, Kasipul constituency.
Raila said he will announce whether he will run at the appropriate time.
All along the mourners demanded he declare his candidature for the presidency.
Raila's grassroots meetings come weeks after the opposition outfit resolved to dump the National Super Alliance (Nasa) that sponsored him in 2017.
The ODM boss will kickstart the grassroots engagements in Kisii on Friday. A meeting will draw 600 delegates from the Nyanza region to discuss the party's prospects ahead of 2022.
Atop the agenda will be the 2022 alliance formation and identifying the party's flag-bearer.
The opposition chief has chosen to start his party’s 2022 State House march by consolidating his Nyanza backyard, which has religiously supported his four failed presidential bids.
The Star has established the meetings will also have a say on a political alliance the party should form and with which group. Delegates will also give their take on their preferred presidential candidate or candidates.
Speaking in Kisii during the burial ceremony of Jane Bosire, the wife of former Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire who is also the ODM national Treasurer, Raila said the regional engagements will cause a political tsunami.
It will forever change Kenya's landscape, he said.
From Kisii, the team on Saturday will pitch camp in Kakamega for the Western chapter. It will then be followed by Coast, Northeastern, Eastern and President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Central Kenya.
The national declaration, Raila said, will be made in the last meeting in Nairobi.
The African Union High Representative for Infrastructure had in recent weeks launched forays into Uhuru’s Murang’a backyard. A number of high-profile Central Kenya politicians promised to back his candidacy.
There are signals that President Kenyatta has agreed to back Raila to battle DP Ruto for the top job.
“As Nyanza, we want to walk as a united region going forward; on Friday we shall have the Nyanza chapter where we will pass the Nyanza Resolution which will be the voice of the people,” Raila said.
“We will then have the voice of Kenya, the progressive voice of change. We will be in Nairobi for that declaration.”
Raila added they have brought many people on board to negotiate the party’s future, unlike the past when only a few individuals made decisions on which path the party should take.
“Instead of taking few representatives to negotiate, we will have a bigger number sitting down to negotiate," he said.
Suna East MP Junet Mohamed said the Kisii meeting will be the birth of a new bigger political outfit that brings all Kenyans and political formations together.
“Friday will be the beginning of crafting a much bigger alliance that will sweep the country’s political landscape. The big ship that will carry everyone will start here in Kisii,” Junet said.
“We want to craft a bigger ship that will accommodate even the One Kenya Alliance (Oka) and other small parties.”
The Friday meeting will be attended by 600 delegates from each of the Nyanza counties of Kisii, Homa Bay, Nyamira, Migori, Siaya and Kisumu. Each county will be represented by 100 delegates.
Attendees will be governors, MPs, MCAs, party officials, professionals, business community leaders, boda boda representatives, youths and women leaders.
ODM secretary general Edwin Sifuna said the meetings will also bring on board like-minded national leaders, some not members of the Orange party.
After each meeting, a resolution will be drafted and submitted to Chungwa House to inform the national declaration.
“We are consulting our grassroots on the future of the party, the sort of path they would like us to take going forward. I do not want to anticipate debate by speaking to which resolutions will be reached,” Sifuna told the Star.
“Dates are fluid. But we will start in Nyanza, then Western. Finally, we finish the engagements with Nairobi,” Sifuna said.
The burial was attended by governors Amos Nyaribo (Nyamira), James Ongwae (Kisii), Prof Anyang' Nyong’o (Kisumu), senators James Orengo (Siaya), Prof Sam Ongeri (Kisii), Okong’o Omogeni (Nyamira), Moses Kajwang’ (Homa Bay) and Eala MP Oburu Odinga, among other leaders.
Raila also took a swipe at DP Ruto’s bottom-up economic model, saying it is handouts-driven and offers no solution to the country’s economic challenges.
“Kenyans do not need handouts, when we were talking about devolution, some people opposed the concept,” Raila said.
(Edited by V. Graham)