The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ODM Party held its retreat at the Lake Elementaita Lodge on Tuesday with the aim of taking the members and particularly the new members to the NEC on their role as the top decision making organ of the Party.
The NEC was also briefed on plans by the party to rejuvenate the party organs right from the National Secretariat to the grassroots level which include filling the vacant positions in the various branches of the party.
ODM Deputy Party Leader, Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho skipped the meeting which was chaired by the Party Leader Raila Odinga.
Odinga briefed the NEC on the building bridges to a new Kenya initiative between him and President Uhuru Kenyatta as contained in the MoU of 9th of March 2018 and the progress made so far.
The members of NEC were encouraged to speak the truth frankly and boldly.
The members were implored not to reduce such a historic event as the handshake that pulled the country back from the precipice to the cusp of a new dawn, to trivialities such as the 2022 election.
Members were encouraged to trudge on and not be distracted by the political shylocks that want to extract their pound of flesh from the handshake.NEC further agreed as follows:
1. The Party commiserates with all the victims of the flooding currently being experienced in the country and urges the government to declare the floods a national disaster. We further urge those living in flood prone areas to move to safer ground for their own safety.
2. We welcome the move by government to set up a task force to look at environmental degradation especially within our forests. We hope that this was not a PR exercise and urge that the report of the task force be implemented fully.
3. We urge party members to join in tree planting exercises as a means of mitigating our loss of forest cover so that it can be restored to internationally acceptable levels.
4. That cognizant of the current political environment in the wake of the hotly and controversial presidential election of August 8 2017, the ODM NEC urges Kenyans to focus on building bridges, unite as a nation and shun divisive politics being perpetuated by a section of politicians whose only interest is ascending to power.
5. That the NEC fully backs the Party Leader on the Building Bridges initiative and urges all party members to walk with him throughout the journey to making Kenya a United Nation.
6. That as NEC, we have endorsed the resolution of the National Governing Council of the Party to rejuvenate the Party and revamp it right from the National Secretariat to the grassroots level and fill in the vacant positions in various branches of the Party in accordance with the Party constitution.
We urge the political class to cool down the political temperatures, talk to their supporters to be tolerant and focus on the matter at hand which is to address the problems facing the country once and for all and support the 14 member committee of advisors set up jointly by President Uhuru Kenyatta and our party leader H.E Raila Odinga.
Thank you and God Bless Kenya.
8th May 2018.