Two Orange Democratic Movement protagonists, Governor John Nyagarama and West Mugirango MP James Gesami should consider working together or the party loses gubernatorial position to Jubilee, Bogichora MCA Buttah Omanga has said.
The two are in pursuit of the ODM ticket for 2017 race with latest race entrant Gesami keen to win the ticket.
In a phone interview on Tuesday, Mr Omanga said that the party risked losing the seat should both candidates insist on going to the ballot.
“As ODM, the gubernatorial seat especially Nyamira is very important if at all we want to control devolved governments. This is where the party’s manifesto should be fully implemented and if we mess, Jubilee is on our neck,” he said.
“Nyagarama and Gesami should swallow their pride and meet for the sake of party unity. We cannot field two candidates as Cord in Nyamira and more so ODM. We are risking losing to a much organized Jubilee team,” he added.
Omanga urged the ODM leadership to ‘handle’ the matter before it escalated, adding that competition between the duo was weakening the party.
“I love competition but there comes a time when people from the same family talk to curb a crisis. As ODM we must be united in our county if we really want to win the gubernatorial seat,” he said.
While Gesami and Nyagarama are engaging in a fierce contest, the Jubilee team seems to have settled on former Kitutu Masaba MP Walter Nyambati as their flag-bearer.