ODM leader Raila Odinga yesterday signalled the coming of a political “tsunami” ahead of the 2022 General Election.
Mr Odinga, who spoke during the funeral of former Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo in Siaya County, said Kenyans should brace for a bigger political formation that will shape the destiny of the country.
“The machine we are building is a powerful one. Some people are thumping their chest but are not aware of what is awaiting them ahead. There is a strong wind that is currently building up that will soon transform into a tsunami,” he said during the event held at Ndori Primary School.
The opposition leader poked holes in Deputy President William Ruto’s “bottoms-up” economic model, saying it could not address the challenges facing the country.
“We cannot gamble with the lives of our people by trying to invoke the names of mama mboga, boda boda. This initiative deserves to be dumped into the dust bin,” he said.
According to the DP, the bottom-up economic approach remains the only viable avenue to address challenges facing the majority of Kenyans at the grassroots.
Mr Odinga also expressed confidence in the Court of Appeal to overturn the stoppage of Building Bridges Initiative (BBI), which the High Court nullified.
“The BBI incorporated nine key issues that have bedevilled the country since independence and will end the divisive elections, among other challenges,” he said.
“We have our competent team of lawyers led by Siaya Senator James Orengo. Reggae is on half time. We will soon bounce back.”
Mr Orengo also affirmed that the march to Canaan is still on and called on their supporters to prepare their arsenal for the grand ceremony.
Meanwhile, Mr Odinga revealed that ODM is preparing to revamp itself by conducting transparent party primaries, which will be acceptable to all parties across the board.
While acknowledging the challenges in running the previous exercises, the Orange party boss said they would fully implement the recommendations of the Catherine Mumma-chaired task force.
The team created after the dismal performance of the party in last General Election blamed the Secretariat, the National Executive Committee and National Election Board (NEB) for its loss.
Mr Odinga while noting that the high costs of conducting nomination stretched their capacity, said they had changed the entire NEB and will conduct the exercise in a transparent and accountable manner.
“The recommendations will be made public to all the stakeholders. There is nothing to hide,” he said.
The ODM leader described Mr Midiwo as a strong character and a debater who had left several records in Parliament when he was Gem MP between 2002 and 2017.
Devolution Cabinet secretary Eugene Wamalwa said Midiwo had the power to engage people across the different political divide.
“As a government, we want to fulfil the Sirembe water project to cover the entire Gem Constituency where he represented,” he said.
Thousands of residents who turned up to pay their last respect to the fallen leader who patronised their political scene were restricted as the county attempted to adhere to the strict Covid-19 measures put in place by the Ministry of Health.
A postmortem examination revealed that Mr Midiwo died from acute renal failure even as his family led by elder brother Dr George Jalang’o Midiwo alleged that there was foul play involved.
Siaya governor Amoth Rasanga and his Kisumu counterpart Anyang’ Nyong’o and more than 20 current and former MPs attended the burial.
vraballa@ke.nationmedia.com