The Orange Democratic Party (ODM) has proposed three deputy party leaders after two of its previous holders of that post joined the government to serve as cabinet secretaries in various areas.
In a statement to the editors on Friday, August 9, 2024, the party proposed three chairmen and made a number of other changes to the party leadership – at a time when party leader Raila Odinga has his eyes firmly set on the race for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission.
“The ODM Central Committee held a meeting this afternoon to discuss matters concerning the leadership of the party, in view of the vacancies created in the leadership of the party by the resignations of our two deputy party leaders, our national chairman, the secretary for political affairs and a member of the party’s electoral coordination committee,” the statement said.
Vihiga County Senator Godfrey Osotsi, Kisii Governor Simba Arati and his Mombasa counterpart Abdulswamad Nassir were proposed as deputy leaders of the opposition party.
The party said it would recommend changes to the party constitution to the NEC to accommodate the three deputy party leaders in the new arrangement.
“As you may have noticed, the Central Committee has proposed three names for the deputy party leader. We will make a recommendation to the NEC and NGC to make the necessary changes to our constitution to reflect this,” the party said.
ODM recommends Ruth Odinga
Similarly, the Orange Party has recommended to its National Executive Committee (NEC) to consider the proposal of Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga for national chairperson, represented by Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo and Turkana South MP John Ariko.
The ODM Central Committee also proposed Kisumu MP Ruth Odinga as Deputy Organising Secretary, Kisumu West MP Rosah Buyu as Secretary for Political Affairs, Migori County Central Committee Chairperson Rahab Robi as Secretary for Publicity and Information and Kajiado East MP Kakuta Maimai as Secretary for Special Programmes and Social Welfare.
According to Secretary General Edwin Sifuna, the positions aroused great interest among the leaders and members of the ODM party.
“While we cannot all take the lead at the same time, we would like to encourage those who may not get the nod that there is always an opportunity for each of you to contribute,” Sifuna noted.
The vacancies arose from the departure of national party leader John Mbadi, who currently works for the Ministry of Finance, and deputy party leaders Wycliffe Oparanya and Hassan Joho, who work for CS Cooperatives and CS Mining respectively.
