The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader, Raila Odinga, is on the receiving end after a speech he made in Homa Bay on Monday, April 18, calling for a six-piece voting model, rubbed his allies the wrong way.
Odinga while in Nyanza, called on Nyanza residents to only vote for candidates vying on his party ticket in the August 9, general elections.
Raila said he wants six counties in the Nyanza region to vote ODM candidates from MCA to the presidential seat to strengthen the party in their Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Alliance Coalition.
However, this did not sit well with Azimio National Coalition Executive Council (NCEC) deputy chairman, David Murathe, who cautioned that this might lead to voter apathy in the region, affecting the total vote tally.
Murathe explained that Raila’s remarks could upset voter turnout and affect his presidential run, adding that allowing all other Azimio affiliate parties, including independent candidates backing Raila, to compete would be healthy for a high voter turnout.
“The more candidates the merrier. If you run candidates, for example, of David Ochieng’s party or even UDM, which Gumbo (Nicholas) is contesting for Siaya governor seat on, provided at the top they vote for Jakom (Raila), will see more people come out to vote.
“It is good for voter turnout. This is because they (contestants) will all mobilise their supporters to go and vote, so it is important to let the competition be very heavy and this will ensure the presidential vote remains intact,” Murathe was quoted by The Nation.
Murathe noted that if the voting pattern is made monolith, ODM supporters might not turn out to vote. His sentiments were backed by KANU Secretary General, Nick Salat, who also opined that the voter turnout will be affected if Raila insists on a six-piece voting pattern.
“We cannot achieve maximum presidential votes through the route he is going. It is better that he allows other parties to contest because he is still the beneficiary,” Salat remarked.
