Kilifi Women Rep Aisha Jumwa, ODM Party leader Raila Odinga and Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi during a past rally in Watamu. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
In the run to the 2007 elections, KANU breakaway faction led by William Ruto teamed up with NARC splinter group led by Raila Odinga to form the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
The party went on to become one of the most dominant in the country winning 99 out of 210 parliamentary seats.And in Kilifi, the Raila Odinga-led outfit went on to sweep all the parliamentary seats except two - the Kaloleni and Ganze seats which were won by Kazungu Kambi of PNU led by Mwai Kibaki and Kazungu Baya of KANU.All the veterans in the region were swept aside by the new political tsunami.However, five years later, the party started to lose ground.With the creation of additional constituencies, ODM managed only four seats in parliament out of the seven available slots with the party losing the Kaloleni seat to Gunga Mwinga of little-known KADU Asili Party.Harrison Kombe, a veteran, who lost to Amason Kingi in 2007 managed to return to parliament on a URP ticket.Elsewhere in Ganze, Peter Shehe of Federal Party of Kenya clinched that seat to ODM's frustration.Since the 2013 elections, the party has lost three of its members to Jubilee Party with Kilifi North MP Gideon Mung’aro and his Kilifi South counterpart Mustafa Iddi setting the defection wave into motion.Besides that, Dan Kazungu was poached by the President and appointed to the cabinet.With the August 8 elections now inching closer, ODM is keen to sweep all the available parliamentary seats. However, they face stiff competition from NASA coalition affiliate parties and Jubilee Party which has made inroads in the county.