Former nominated Kisumu Ward Rep Farida Salim has asked for forgiveness from the ODM Party and its members after she left the movement and joined the Citizen Convention Party (CCP).
Salim ran for the Shaurimoyo Kaloleni MCA seat on CCP ticket but lost to Prisca Ouma who contested on an ODM ticket.
"I really wanted to be on the ballot. That is why I ditched ODM for the CCP since I had lost in the primaries which would have propelled me to vie for the seat on the ODM ticket. A difference in ideas should not make us enemies," stated Salim.
Salim spoke during a vetting exercise for the Kisumu City Management Board presided over by the Assembly Appointment Committee.
The former nominated legislator also took the opportunity to state that she had forgiven The Citizen Weekly Newspaper which she claimed had published a defamatory about her.
According to Salim, the article published in the newspaper mid last year asserted that she had threatened to rally for more pay for nominated MCAs in Kisumu.
She further noted that the publication also alleged that she had abused a section of youth in Kisumu and Nairobi by terming them as idlers.
"I am a leader of great integrity. I have never and will never go around abusing people. The article was malicious and it could have been a scheme used by my political enemies to taint my name," stated Salim.
According to Salim, she had not been able to prosecute the matter in court since the story had been written by an anonymous writer.
She urged journalists to focus on objective and factual reporting, adding that she had no grudge against those who maligned her name.