ODM MPs clash over zoning ahead of polls

Differences are emerging within the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) over whether to push for  a zoning arrangement as part of pre-election agreement with President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

The party has also condemned reports of some legislators calling for removal of Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo over unclear circumstances, saying he should be embraced, especially given the region’s historical marginalisation.

Some ODM MPs, led by Minority Whip Millie Odhiambo, criticised the zoning debate, arguing the party should focus on strengthening itself rather than chest thumping and issuing threats.

The Suba North lawmaker said she did not attend the party’s National Delegates Conference (NDC) and is unsure if there is an official position on zoning but insisted that ODM, as the country’s largest and most popular party, has always successfully fielded candidates without formal zoning.

“Perhaps there may have been silent agreements in urban areas like Nairobi, but ODM has never needed formal zoning and let’s be honest, none of us is Raila Odinga. We need to listen to the public and they want to see what we have delivered. Pushing a strong zoning agenda puts personal interests ahead of constituents’ needs,” Odhiambo said during a press conference in Parliament.

She added that legislators who have served their constituents should not fear competition, noting that zoning discussions imply a quest for favourable treatment. She called for reconsidering zoning and warned that ultimatums on the issue do not help. She maintained that strengthening the party is crucial to ensuring a fair and credible nomination process.

“I wish we were giving ultimatums on issues that benefit our constituents. Maybe we should demand that ‘we can leave the broad-based arrangement if certain promises to the public are not fulfilled.’ But ultimatums aimed at securing personal seats are very selfish. We need to rethink the issue of zoning,”she said.

She insisted: “We must strengthen ODM just as Raila left it, or make it even bigger. I’m told there are UDA candidates and others interested; we fully welcome them. Why fear to welcome others? We say we are broad-based, yet we fight each other. Favouring certain candidates will make us lose the public.”

Odhiambo also opposed pushing people away from the party or other positions, citing Omollo. “Strengthening the party matters, not scattering it. I will remain consistent, there’s no reason to chase people away,” she added.

“Whether it is a conjecture or a reality that there are people who would want PS Omollo to be removed from his position, I would discourage you from that thought…perish the thought and the reason is we come from an area that has been historically marginalised for years and I can actually show you from reports of National Cohesion and Integration Commission that the Luo Nyanza, Suba Nyanza and Kuria Nyanza have been areas that have been historically marginalised by successive governments both in terms of resources and positions so I’m very grateful that we have people in government,” she insisted.

Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo also joined the Minority Whip in saying that zoning conversation should not be allowed and urged the party to instead focus on carrying out credible nominations.

“You don’t have to worry about zoning because ODM is still a popular party so if you do credible nomination, the ODM candidate will still win. I think those who are worried about direct tickets are the ones talking about zoning. I think zoning is another name for direct ticket and if you have done your work as an MP, you should not worry about competing for nomination. As a party, we have fought for multi-party democracy; our late leader was popular in this country because he stood for multi-party democracy and that’s why Kenyans loved him,” Odhiambo said.

Similarly, he said that there has been a conversation where Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma insinuated that he would request the President to ensure that PS Omollo is moved from his position.

“I want to tell Kaluma that if you are talking about government officers, let another government officer handle it. If you want to discuss politics, face us as politicians, talk politics to politicians, not government officers! Omollo is serving the government well; there’s no need to cast aspersions on someone doing their job,” he said.

Muhoroni MP James Oyoo added: “ODM has always stood for democratisation. Our position is to expand democratic space so anyone aspiring for a position can be elected. There is a clear party leadership hierarchy.”

He noted that serious party matters are best handled by party leadership.

“The person speaking for the party should be the leader or secretary-general. Even if the secretary general steps aside, a replacement exists to speak on official positions,” he said.

Their remarks come after party chairperson Gladys Wanga insisted that zoning arrangements must be a key condition in any pre-election agreement with UDA, insisting that ODM would only negotiate as an equal partner.

Similarly,  Kaluma argued that zoning is common sense for winning the presidency and ensuring effective governance.

“We either implement zoning and field a single candidate for all seats, from President to MCA, or allow all parties to field candidates for all seats and form a post-election coalition,” Kaluma said on social media. He added that the key question is whether the coalition is pre-or post-election.

Kaluma said that in a post-election arrangement, parties can field candidates freely, with ODM even presenting candidates for President and Deputy President.

However, for a pre-election coalition, he proposed that parties agree on the top-ticket candidate. To secure a parliamentary majority, each party should focus on its strongholds and allow the other partner to concentrate on theirs, avoiding internal competition that could hand seats to the opposition.