Kenya’s single largest party Orange Democratic Movement will hold its party nominations ahead of the August 2017 elections in February and March next year, chairman John Mbadi has revealed.
Speaking in Nyamira on Friday during a major rally graced by party leader Raila Odinga, Mr Mbadi said the move will enable the party to sort out critical nominations issues in time to avoid last minute defections of candidates to other parties.
He said the move will also enable the party to divert its energies towards securing majority seats in the national Parliament, Senate and county assemblies countrywide.
“As a party, we will hold our primaries in February and March next year so that we put our house in order ahead of the August elections. We don’t want to witness a scenario where some potential candidates make unprecedented defections due to poorly planned nominations,” he added.
“We are also keen on ensuring that potential candidates are identified in time so that we can concentrate on securing majority seats in parliament and National assembly. We will also have enough time to campaign for presidential elections,” he added.
Mbadi also promised free, fair and credible nominations, and ruled out issuance of direct tickets to regions where more than one person expresses interest in nomination certificate.
“The nominations must be free, fair and credible and as a team, I am certain that we are prepared for that. Nobody is immune from nominations. We are all equals and everyone must be ready to face the battle,” he stated.