[Kibra parliamentary hopeful Eliud Owalo. He has accused political parties of overseeing shambolic primaries. Courtesy: The Star]
Kibra parliamentary hopeful Eliud Owalo has lashed out at Opposition alliance NASA presidential candidate Raila Odinga over calls for voters to reject independent candidates during the forthcoming general elections.
Mr Odinga made the remarks on Sunday in Kisumu.
But in a statement on Tuesday, Owalo, who is also a former aide to Mr Odinga noted that the huge number of independent candidates is as a result of shambolic party primaries, accusing the former premier of collecting huge sums of money to award ODM Party tickets.
"He should not treat independent candidates as enemies of the people after collecting colossal sums of money under the pretext of conducting non-existent party primaries," Owalo said.
"There is a clear constitutional and electoral provision for such candidates. They have an inalienable right to exercise their right to seek the people's mandate," he added.
Owalo further pledged to champion for the interests of the independents.
"Let independent candidates be. Let us be honest with ourselves for once. If they fear to speak for themselves, I will do so, having been freed from that bondage," he stated.