Trouble continues to brew in Bondo because of a nomination dispute which has since reached the office of Political Disputes Tribunal. Two weeks ago, the Tribunal ordered the ODM Office in Bondo to re-run the nominations but the office has failed to obey the order.
The protagonists pits Bondo MP, Gideon Ochanda on the one hand and his challenger, John Andiwo on the other. On April 13th, Ochanda allegedly won the nomination but this outcome was overtuned by the Tribunal after Andiwo lodged an appeal with the Tribunal.
The PPDT gave the party’s National Election Committee (NEB) 72 hours to rerun the elections, which passed on May 8.
“NEB and the ODM party will hold a new nomination for the MP for the Bondo constituency through general elections of its members within 72 hours of this order, i.e. on or before May 8,” the PPDT order states.
Last week, the issue caught the attention of dr. Oburo Odinga, the East African Legislative Assembly MP who intervened to try and resolve the impasse. According to the MP, the deadlock is unhealthy for the party and Azimio’s presidential candidate, Honourable Raila Odinga.
Oburu is a beneriaciary of a direct nomination for the post of Siaya distric Senator. According to Oburu, petitions challenging internal party nominations had complicated election campaigns in the district.
“The party must now move quickly to resolve the issues because we want to put these disputes behind us and get on with campaigning for our presidential candidate,” Oburu said.
Speaking to reporters, Oburu said that the party has no funds to conduct new nominations, adding that the party had appealed the PPDT’s decision to the Supreme Court.
On Friday, the High Court dismissed the appeal, which sought to overturn the court’s orders. The matter was returned to the PPDT on Monday this week for a decision on the application for a permanent injunction preventing ODM from forwarding Mr. Ochanda’s name to the IEBC.
There is growing opposition in Siaya to the strategy of direct nominations and “The politics of three-piece suit” which members of the electorate view as a short-cut that will see unpopular candidates fielded by ODM to vie for various seats across the district.
Team Azimio Global