[Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi. He has defended Pareno's nomination to EALA. Courtesy: The Star]
Ugunja MP Opiyo Wandayi has defended ODM National Elections Board Chair Judith Pareno's nomination to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA).
In a statement on Friday, Wandayi noted that Pareno is a woman of impeccable record as a lawyer, and therefore can effectively represent the country at EALA.
"It must be noted that Pareno's own credentials more than surpass the requirements to represent Kenya in EALA," he said.
"She is the only nominee from the Maa community which has suffered untold marginalisation under successive regimes since independence," he added.
The legislator's remarks comes days after Members of Parliament who lost the ODM Party primaries threatened to reject Pareno's nomination, claiming that she mismanaged the just concluded ODM nominations.
Wandayi further took a swipe on National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale over the list of EALA nominees, accusing the Garissa Township MP of meddling into ODM Party's internal affairs.
"It's inconceivable that Jubilee would dictate who ODM should nominate," he noted.