ODM's stance on Gachagua's Impeachment

By Robert Mutasi 

Millie Odhiambo, MP Suba North, urged ODM and its leaders to shun the political wars that relate not even to their core mandate and serve the people.

He recently spoke about recent political tensions, including Odhiambo, who clarified that ODM never took an official party stance on the impeachment of the Deputy President out of respect for an unwritten rule of not tampering with the touched. 

Odhiambo expressed concern over recent attacks directed at ODM leader Raila Odinga by central Kenya leaders.

She was citing an incident among many where Maragua MP Wamaua Waithira has attacked Odinga over the weekend. 

Odhiambo wondered how their party leader Odinga had been dragged into a current political war, adding that his interest is only to serve the party and its leadership aspirations, like earning a new chairmanship.

Addressing leaders from central Kenya directly, Odhiambo said the times of using Raila Odinga's name as a political scapegoat for votes are long gone.

"It is now time to deliver on your mandate," she said. 

She called on leaders to put their nose to the grindstone and be judged based on their service delivery, not by their attacks on other political figures.

Odhiambo threatened that sustained attacks on Odinga would elicit a response from ODM.

 "If you go after Raila, we go to Mount Kenya," she said, referring to some sort of gentlemen's agreement between political blocs to leave some areas and leaders well alone.

 She revealed she hadn't signed the impeachment petition but was doing so now that Odinga became a target of attack.

"If you want, talk to us nicely," Odhiambo said, suggesting that ODM had no inclination to join the current political fights unless pushed. 

She called for restraint, appealing to leaders to desist from involving Odinga in all those unwarranted altercations, cautioning that ODM would fight off perceived attacks against its leader tooth and nail if they persisted.

Odhiambo closed her statement by affirming ODM's commitment to its core functions of government: oversight, legislation, and delivery of its manifesto promise. 

She said service delivery to Kenyans should be the central focus of all elected leaders, not political feuds. She called on leaders from all political factions to focus on serving the people rather than fanning divisive rhetoric.