Written by Wanyonyi wa Wasike 2012-07-01 13:03:00 Read 605 Times

A new lobby to campaign for Prime-Minister Raila Odinga in Western Province ahead of the next general elections has been formed.

The Raila Action Group {RAG} has splintered from the Friends For Raila {FORA} group that had established base in the four counties of Bungoma, Kakamega, Vihiga and Busia.

Officials of the new group that comprises mostly of Boda-Boda cyclists, Jua-Kali artisans and mechanics said that they had lost faith in the leadership of FORA in the four counties adding that the simmering differences prompted them to form the new lobby.

“We are the real people working for the Prime-Minister on the ground but we have been angered by the way some FORA officials, especially those in Bungoma County have been handling their activities. We feel they are only out to make money at the expense of marketing the name of our presidential candidate,” said RAG Chairman Martin Walusaka.

He announced that now henceforth, they will be liaising with the PM’s campaign secretariat in Nairobi directly instead of using people with other vested interests.

Among the interim officials of the new lobby group are Nick Wekesa and Eric Njalale {Bungoma County}, Phillip Makokha and Fred Wekesa {Kakamega County}, Harrison Okumu and Francis Otieno {Busia County} and Francis Idewa and Edward Magoha {Vihiga County}.

Walusaka announced that the lobby has organized a series of rallies aimed at popularizing ODM in the province aimed at reaching out to the party’s supporters at the grassroots ahead of a planned tour by the PM in the region.

He conceded that ODM’s popularity in the region has nose-dived since the departure of Deputy Prime-Minister Musalia Mudavadi from the party to run for the presidency on a United Democratic Front {UDF} party ticket but vowed that the new lobby will soon reverse the trend.

"We squarely blame FORA officials who adopted a laid-back approach in handling the PM’s campaign here because majority of them saw this as a perfect opportunity to make money at the expense of popularizing Raila’s name, our approach is going to be totally different from them,” said Walusaka

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