ODM will not intimidate us, Coast MPs allied to Ruto say

Kilifi North MP Owen Baya. He said ODM party should not intimidate leaders against airing their opinions. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

By  KAZUNGU SAMUEL

What you need to know:

  • They said the threats aimed at their colleagues Aisha Jumwa and Suleiman Dori are not heathy for the party.
  • Baya said that the quest to have a united coast party to produce a presidential candidate is unstoppable.

Three Orange Democratic movement (ODM) legislators at the Coast and who are allied to Deputy President William Ruto have insisted that the party leadership should not bulldoze them.

Speaking in different interviews, the leaders who included Kaloleni MP Paul Katana, Owen Baya (Kilifi North) and Getrude Mbeyu (Kilifi Woman Rep) said they have equal rights to freely express themselves as members of ODM without being intimidated.

Their statement is likely to further rock the unity of the party in the region where a rebellion has been witnessed since the March 2017 handshake between party leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta.

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“We are all equal in ODM and nobody should threaten or intimidate us. We all paid nomination fees to the party and when it comes to that level, we are all equal. We don’t want the situation where some leaders in the party think that they are more superior,” Mr Katana said when he spoke in Kaloleni.

UNITY

Speaking during an interview, Ms Mbeyu said as far as they are concerned, they respect their party leaders but that should not be taken as weakness.

“We are Coast leaders under ODM and our stand for the party is very clear. We are respecting the leadership but that is not weakness. Why should we be subjected to intimidation and threats when we announce our stand as leaders,” Ms Mbeyu said.

She said the persistence threats aimed at their colleagues Aisha Jumwa (Malindi) and her Msambweni counterpart Suleiman Dori are not heathy for the party.

“When we all embraced the handshake our thought was that it was all-inclusive but then something seemed wrong when we decided to also unite with the DP while at the Coast.

"Why does it result to threats of expulsion from the party if we decided to also work with the DP for the development of the region?” she asked.

PRESIDENCY

According to Mr Baya, the regional leaders have their own say on issues that concern their people and they should not be gagged by the party.

“We have the key as leaders to make our own decisions on what is best for our people. We don’t expect ODM to continue issuing threats to some Coast leaders,” he said.

He said that the quest to have a united coast party to produce a presidential candidate is unstoppable.

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