‘Mbadi is yet to resign’ – Raila
By Kepher Otieno, February 14, 2023Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga says neither he nor the party has received a formal resignation letter from embattled chairman John Mbadi.
He has, however, stated that Mbadi is free to leave whenever he feels like it.
“If he pens down, we will go ahead to pick a new person to take over and steer the party to the next level,” Raila said.
Mbadi has been in the news headlines expressing disappointment with the party and even affirming that he is no longer interested in the position.
Raila said Mbadi was acting of anger after he disagreed with some people in the party, which is normal in a growing democracy. This he says, could be the reason, for his resentment.
As far as he is concerned, Mbadi will still hold office until such a time that ODM will hold its national elections to strengthen the party’s democracy and support.
“ODM plans to hold elections to pick new grassroots and national officials this year, so we can wait,” Raila added.
Raila ruled out claims that there were divisions in the party saying disagreement on principles does not amount to disarray or deep divisions in the party as alleged by social media users.
“In a growing democracy and even within our party, people are bound to express their views and divergent views don’t mean disunity,” he clarified.
Raila termed such divergent expressions as a sign of growing democracy meaning that people were able to express themselves well and be corrected swiftly where wrong.
He was speaking during a candid interview with one of the local vernacular Radio stations yesterday during World Radio Day.
He lauded the media for playing its role in keeping the authority in check. At the same time, Raila declared that his outfit will not turn back to the anti-Ruto countrywide rallies.
“We have seen few ticks and wrongs in the current regime in the six months period. We must point out the woes to be fixed,” Raila said.
He explained that they had issues with the government bordering on elections and electoral reforms and democracy. Raila insisted the elections, are not supposed to polarize the country but to galvanize Kenyans.
“This is why we are pushing for equity in the redistribution of the national resources and even jobs,” he said.
Raila was concerned that the current Cabinet Composition was skewed in favour of one or two ethnic groups.
“This is the reason for the growing resentment against the government. Because even the parastatal jobs are not fairly distributed across the fair ethnic matrix. Until such discrepancies are rationalized, Kenyans will still fight for democratic ideals and fair and administrative justice to prevail in the running of the country,” he said.
He, however, claimed there would be wide consultations about charting the destiny of the country.
Off late Raila and Ruto have been pulling parallel with Raila warning his party MPs against meeting Ruto without seeking the party leadership’s consent.
Ruto on the other hand has lashed at Raila saying he doesn’t need permission to speak to elected leaders and to chart the development agenda.
The recent meeting between Ruto and a section of Nyanza MPs has sparked party disciplinary action.
The MPs have since received a show cause letter from Mbadi to defend their latest visits to State House where they met Ruto.
The party argues that development concerns can be channelled through Parliament, not the State House.
Raila claimed going to State House is meant to champion the MP’s own ‘stomach’ interest.