The Central Committee of the ODM Party held a meeting on Wednesday, September 29, 2021, to discuss various issues affecting the party and matters of national interest. The meeting was chaired by the party leader Raila Odinga.
In a statement, the party addressed the issue of public registrations, noting that a number of Kenyans had raised concerns on the expiry of the registration window on September 30, 2021.
“Given the success we have witnessed and the desire from the public to join the party in the last three months, we resolved to extend the free membership registration for ordinary members that was expected to expire the 30th of September to the 31st of December 2021,” the statement read in part.
On the upcoming mass voter registration by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), ODM called upon the commission to deploy sufficient resources both human and material in order for the exercise to be successful.
The party claimed that out of the 7 million targeted new voters, they have noticed that more than half of the number is in their party’s traditional strongholds of Nyanza, Western, Coast and Nairobi.
“We implore on the IEBC to deploy commensurate resources in those regions.
“We urge all party leaders at the grassroots and all members elected and nominated on the party ticket to now retreat to their respective areas to coordinate and support voter registration and mobilize people to collect their identity cards for purposes of voter registration,” the statement concluded.
The party highlighted that there are reports of a some members of the party purporting to open offices in the grassroots without reference or consultations with the national office.
“We wish to remind all members that whenever there is a need to open any party office, the same must be done in consultation with the national office failure to which such offices will not be recognized.
“Further note that such brazen violation of the Party’s rule will attract disciplinary action to those involved,” the party warned.
This comes a week after the ODM National Elections Body (NEB) announced it would reopen applications for the party’s presidential ticket in the 2022 general elections after the conclusion of grassroot polls.
This will allow Odinga and businessman Jimmy Wanjigi to apply, joining Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho and his Kakamega counterpart Wycliffe Oparanya.
Joho and Oparanya are the only leader to have applied to be ODM’s flagbearer in the 2022 general polls before the initial March 31, 2021 deadline.
NEB chairperson Catherine Mumma revealed that the party has held in-depth engagements with ODM stakeholders from over 28 counties to ensure the grassroot elections are inclusive, fair and transparent.
“The deadline for elections in every county is agreed during the consultative meetings. At no given time has the board given a deadline for all counties to conclude the polls,” Mumma stated.