ABABU AND KIDERO MUST GO FOR ODM TO REIN IN CORRUPTION FIGHT

Mar 10, 2015 William Adoyo News 0

By. Eliud Owallo

The ODM party has since inception pegged its agenda for Change on its commitment to the fight against corruption. The fight against corruption must be universally applicable irrespective of whether the subjects are in Government or the position.

The grave corruption allegations against Ababu Namwamba in his capacity as the Chairman of the PAC makes his position as the Chairman of this crucial house watchdog Committee no longer tenable, he must therefore step aside to pave way for relevant organs of both Parliament and the state to conduct impartial investigations into the matter to determine the veracity or otherwise of those allegations.

Equally, Ababu no longer has the moral authority to continue clinging onto the position of Secretary General of the ODM Party.

The Party Secretary General is the spokesperson of the Party, the image of the Party in the eyes of Kenyans will be heavily dented if its own Policy advocate is implicated in graft.

To begin with, the Party should withdraw all its members in the PAC and nominate fresh names so that the crucial house Committee is constituted afresh.

The Party has enough members who can serve in that committee’s chairmanship and membership to PAC respectively and should not the preserve of any individual or group of individuals.

Next, the Party should ask Ababu to step aside from his position of Secretary General of the, Party unless or until his name is cleared of these serious allegations.

Equally, Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has been accused of systematically running down MUMIAS Sugar Company during his tenure as the Managing Director of the giant Sugar Miller.

He was not MD of MUMIAS by virtue of being the Governor of Nairobi, and he must therefore be ready to bear responsibility as to costs and consequences of the same without dragging the Party into it.

It does not help the Party cause to continue clinging onto Kidero in the face of serious allegations of graft at Mumias Sugar Company to the detriment of the people of Western Kenya whose single largest source of livelihood is now at stake.

The Party risks losing its crucial Western support base by being seen to be protective of Kidero, yet he is equally known to be one of the most disloyal members of the Party, the Nairobi County Government is heavily implicated in wanton land grabbing reminiscent of the Nyayo era yet both ODM and the CORD Coalition has maintained a studious silence on the same simple because its own Governor is at the centre of Governance in Nairobi.

Moreover, for purposes of the 2017 elections, it is a foregone conclusion that Kidero will not secure a second term as the Governor of Nairobi.

Whether the Party stands with him or not, Kidero will be voted out from his position as Governor of Nairobi, this is the naked truth; you can take it to the Bank and earn interest.

It is a great disservice to the Party rank and file to treat certain individuals with kid’s gloves.

The Party must separate the wheat from the chart The Party is more important than any single individual.

The views expressed here are solely of Eliud Owalo and not in any way related to Kisumu News, Owalo is a former Chief Campaigner & Head of Raila Odinga President campaign Secretariat he is also Management Consultant and Partner at Eliud & Associates, Nairobi.