A section of ODM members in Kwale claim they have reached a consensus on party officials at the county level, despite the outfit not having reached the county elections stage.
ODM has only conducted polling station committee elections and now awaits the ward, subcounty and county elections.
However, former Matuga MP Hassan Mwanyoha, who has been the party’s Kwale county chairperson, said the consensus they have reached with his erstwhile rival and former Kwale Woman Rep Zulekha Hassan, have picked him as the Kwale county chairman.
Kasemeni MCA Victor Nyanje was picked as the vice chairperson and Mariam Maula as the branch secretary during the consensus forum held at Lat Moran hotel in Ukunda town to fill available positions.
Zulekha will be a committee member.
However, this has caused anger in the other ODM faction led by Sheikh Juma Ngao, who is eyeing the party’s Kwale county chairperson position.
Ngao said on Sunday the Mwanyoha faction is daydreaming, agreeing on county positions while the party has yet to call for county elections.
“ODM has only conducted polling station elections. We have to go to the ward elections, then subcounty elections before we get to the county elections,” he told the Star on the phone.
“These hooligans have already announced themselves as county officials. Under which authority? Who called for the consensus? ODM is not a community party.”
Tension is once again rising in the county over the leadership of the orange party.
Before their Friday announcement, Mwanyoha and Zulekha did not see eye-to-eye.
However, they were sat down by unknown party officials in the national office and told to resolve their differences for them to have a chance of beating Ngao.
Hence their reconciliation.
On Friday, Mwanyoha said they had to reach a consensus to avert a potential fallout and wrangles associated with chaotic party polls.
Past efforts to reconcile the warring Kwale factions have proved unsuccessful as the party race for county seats has thrown up antagonism among the leading contenders.
The party failed to pick officials in the last countrywide grassroots elections last year following disputes between two warring factions led by Mwanyoha and Zulekha.
Zulekha, who is also a former nominated ODM MP and Kwale county woman rep, fronted ‘ODM county team fresh’ that wanted to oust the veteran party chairman.
The party called for elections in all the 47 counties to elect 30 officials at every polling station but the election in Kwale was cancelled after the national elections coordinating committee dismissed the polls as a sham.
However, the two leaders and their supporters reconciled and agreed to bury the hatchet and work together for the sake of peace and unity.
However, the emergence of Sheikh Ngao has thrown a spanner in the works.
Ngao, a good orator and a darling of ODM party leader Raila Odinga, has been in several meetings with Raila, in each of which he has been given time to speak.
“These people want to make ODM a community party. They all come from one community. ODM is a national party and should have a national face,” Sheikh Ngao said.
He said the assertion by the Mwanyoha-led group that they had the green light from the Orange House is false.
“How can they be called alone and be told to have a consensus without their rivals being called to be heard? ODM is a democratic party that cannot conduct itself that way,” Ngao said.
“And if indeed it has behaved that way then they can as well stay with their party. I will quit if I find there is no democracy in ODM.”
Mwanyoha said following the wrangles by opposing factions that marred the previous polls, the party members and supporters have agreed on a negotiated democracy to avert a fallout during the grassroots party polls.
“Kwale ODM members and supporters who are the main party stakeholders have decided to make the exercise peaceful by embracing consensus,” he said on Friday.
Zulekha said ODM is actively preparing itself to sweep county seats in the 2027 general election and they can ill afford to hold acrimonious grassroots elections that will leave party members and supporters disenfranchised.
She said the contenders for the various seats had resolved their internal differences amicably without involving the party head office.
Zulekha said the consensus strategy is in the best interest of the ODM party, which is strategising to maintain peace and cohesion among party stalwarts ahead of the 2027 general election.
“We have been pulling in different directions but I have decided to step down from the race for party chairmanship in favour of Mwanyoha and support him,” she said.
by BRIAN OTIENO
