The Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (Ford Kenya) Secretary General, Tongaren MP Dr. Eseli Simiyu has issued a statement condemning the ODM party after leading campaigns to oust Moses Wetangula as Senate Minority Leader.
According to Eseli, ODM should leave NASA instead of working hard to scatter the coalition, days after NASA leader Raila Odinga entered an agreement with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
On Tuesday morning, Eseli said the NASA coalition allows the coalition to go on in the event one of the four affiliate parties (ODM, Ford Kenya, Wiper and ANC) leaves.
Below is his full statement:
"We will be taking a position on the bid to oust our Party Leader Moses Wetang’ula today during our National Executive Committee meeting.
For now all I can say is we have been informed that Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta met and reached an agreement that there would be dialogue on, among other issues, inclusivity.
But I wonder whether ODM is the right political party to talk about inclusivity. What they are doing with Wetang’ula: Surely, is that inclusivity? That is exclusivity. So they should stop talking from both corners of their mouth.
ODM is preaching water and drinking wine. They themselves are practising exclusivity by openly telling their partners in NASA that “We don't like you, we don't want you”, and things like those. Telling non-ODM members that unless you toe our line we cannot deal with you, that is clearly exclusivity.
So why are they pretending that they can talk on behalf of Kenyans on matters inclusivity? ODM has actually shown that they are incapable of being inclusive. They have got no leg to stand on talking about inclusivity on behalf of all Kenyans.
According to the NASA Coalition Agreement, one party can walk out. The other three can continue. So, in this case, I think ODM should walk out of NASA. You must have heard the Secretary General of ODM say they can no longer kneel down to the size of their shorter brothers.
They should peacefully walk away and go and be with their taller brothers and leave us alone. Unless their mission is just to scatter NASA so that the agreement that bars Raila from contesting in 2022 is then buried. But even now, it’s as good as buried.
ODM should man up and walk out of NASA. The agreement that we reached about Raila running for one term and then next time he won't run, that is neither here nor there now.
I believe ODM’s intention is to scatter NASA so that they are not bound by that agreement. But they can just walk out. ODM want to go on their own; but they want to smash NASA before they leave.
My message to Ford Kenya supporters is that they should remain firm. They are the Forum for the Restoration of Democracy. As you can see, some people want to institute dictatorship."
~Ford Kenya Secretary General and Tongaren MP,
Hon. Dr. David Eseli Simiyu."