Saboti MP Caleb Amisi has called on the Orange Democratic Movement party (ODM) to ensure alliances with other parties don’t disadvantage its aspirants at the grass root level.
The Saboti legislator who addressed the party’s Trans Nzoia county coordinating committee meeting that was graced by the secretary general Edwin Sifuna said zoning should not be encouraged since it unfairly locks out potential candidates.
“We call on the party’s top management to ensure any alliances that will be formed at the national level does not undermine the plan to field candidates at all elective zones to have numerical strength,” Amisi noted.
He said the party failed to garner many seats in the county in the last elections since former coalition partners Ford Kenya bullied their way in a quest to have dominance over the region perceived to be their home ground.
“We used to face it rough whenever we attended National Super Alliance meetings since we were even denied the chance to address joint political forums,” the MP said.
Mr. Sifuna who acknowledged the concern said the party has learnt tough lessons in the past and will not overlook its individual goal of having increased representation while forging alliances with other parties.
“We may however have joint nominations with alliance partners in incidents where we want to field a strong candidate instead of competing among ourselves which may disadvantage us,” said the secretary general.
He however assured the officials that the party will never join hands with dishonest partners like in the case of the defunct NASA coalition which was rocked with mistrust that eventually led to its collapse.
“You can see that our former dishonest partners who are now in the One Kenya Alliance are still suffering from the syndrome of mistrust that is why they are unable to name their flag bearer,” said Mr. Sifuna.
Sifuna however received defectors who joined ODM party led by former MCA Naomi Okul that was received promising to contest for Woman Representative seat in the coming general elections.