•The woman representative aspirant says opinion polls are unreliable.
•Passaris said popularity surveys should be used to settle on popular candidates.
A storm is brewing in Raila Odinga’s Azimo La Umoja over the ticket for the Nairobi Woman Representative post.
The position has attracted aspirants from ODM and Jubilee parties.
City politician Wangui B Ng'ang'a, who is eyeing the Azimio ticket, clashed with county woman representative Esther Passaris over the method of nomination.
Ng’ang’a, who is affiliated with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee camp, trashed Passaris' proposal for use of opinion polls to pick the popular candidate.
“Let all candidates seek votes from the electorate instead of waiting to ride on the popularity of Raila and Uhuru to get elected,” said the politician, popularly known as Wangui B.
She unsuccessfully vied for the Nairobi Woman Representative seat in 2017.
The politician now wants Raila and ODM to call for free and fair nominations under the Azimio la Umoja movement.
She claimed that Passaris had shown political cowardice by suggesting she does not prefer competitive nominations.
"I don’t support her calls for our coalition to use opinion polls to pick popular aspirants for elective seats in Nairobi,” said Wangui.
She asked Passaris not to panic about the Azimio la Umoja nominations but instead be ready to subject herself to nominations.
"Let her speak to Nairobins and tell them what she has done in the last five years before seeking re-election," Wangui B added.
Passaris, who was elected on an ODM ticket, has called on Raila and other Azimio la Umoja leaders to embrace the use of opinion polls.
She said popularity surveys would be the best method as opposed to nominations.
"I would suggest that we do a proper opinion poll, and the best one wins the ticket under Azimio la Umoja," Passaris said last week.
But Wangui B dismissed the idea, saying both Jubilee and ODM members should conduct joint nominations and pick the strongest candidates.
She said that the selection of popular candidates cannot be left to opinion polls which she termed as unreliable and inaccurate.
Last year, Raila welcomed Wangui B to Azimio la Umoja as he encouraged women to vie for elective seats all over the country.
Raila hailed Wangui as a courageous and visionary woman who deserves to be in a top leadership position in the Capital City.
“This woman, Wangui Ng’ang’a, is a great asset, and I am happy to be in the same camp with her for our 2022 State House race. She deserves a top seat, and I support her political ambitions,” said Raila then.
Raila spoke at the Kenyatta International Convention Center while addressing over 5,000 women from Mt Kenya who reside in Nairobi.
So far, nominated senator Milicent Omanga and Rachael Shebesh are eyeing the seat.