The embattled Budalangi member of Parliament Ababu Namwamba has insisted that he is in the ODM party to stay and not ready to quit as its secretary general.
Ababu also welcomed his party leader Raila Odinga’s message to have talks in a bid to end wrangles between him and the rest of the members, a move which he said will see the Orange party become stronger than before.
On Tuesday, Ababu referred to Raila as his political father and mentor, adding that he would never leave him for any other person.
“I refused to support Musalia Mudavadi in the 2013 general election and instead backed Raila Odinga because we share common ideologies, have stood by him in Parliament and even spearheaded the ODM Reloaded campaigns,”, Ababu said during an interview on Radio Maisha.
He said he has shown how loyal he is to ODM through his past actions. Though he insisted that the party still faces challenges including lack of democracy where one is not allowed to freely give divergent opinions contrary to other party leaders.
The Budalangi legislature at the same time distanced himself from rumours which have been hitting the headlines recently that he has been bought by Jubilee, and that he is planning to form his own party.
He promised to closely work with the rest of party members in order to come up with strategies that will see ODM and the Cord coalition form the next government in 2017.
He further added that it will be important for all ODM officials to respect one another rather than airing the party's issues in public meetings and forums.
“I represent the entire of Budalangi constituency electorate and if I am disrespected, then that means all my people have been disrespected,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Namwamba has apologised for not attending the Busia woman rep’s homecoming ceremony where Raila was present for what he said to be collusion of events in his calendar.