Why ODM should give me direct ticket 2027- Ruto-allied MP Elisha Odhiambo
Gem constituency Member of Parliament Elisha Odhiambo has said that he is a visionary member of the Orange Democratic Movement who deserves a direct nomination ticket ahead of the 2027 general election.
Failure by the ODM to grant him the direct ticket, he said, he won’t accept to be subjected to the party primaries.
Instead, he stressed, he will accumulate his resources to campaign for the general election that is presided over by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“If I won’t be handed a direct ticket (to fly the flag of the ODM in Gem), I won’t go for the nomination. As such, I will spare my wealth for the 100-meter race,” MP Odhiambo said.
Odhiambo was speaking at Karariw Primary School on Saturday during a bursary forms filling and distribution event.
Miji Kumi elders selected the to-be bursary beneficiaries.
Next week, he said, ODM grassroots officials will select some more needy students from their areas to benefit from the educational support program.
Odhiambo explained that he is continuously in touch with the people of Gem and that he understands their problems better, and has corresponding solutions to them.
Accordingly, the lawmaker said that he could vie on any party ticket and win if the ODM decided to frustrate him.
“Kata abi mana gi party mar oyieyo, to onge ja ODM manyalo yomba Gem ka(Luo Language),” he told this writer shortly after the event.
This loosely translates to mean: “No ODM candidate can trounce me the ballot even if I am to vie on the ticket of a rat’s political party”.
Odhiambo added that winning the 2027 vote will be a walk in the park for him for he will be in the “deep state”, calling the shots.
“2027 will be easier than the past. It will be us to bring the returning officer and therefore I am the one who must be declared the winner!” he said.
In 2022, Odhiambo won the ODM ticket at the party primaries but the certificate was handed over to Jalang’o Midiwo, the brother to Odhiambo’s predecessor and cousin to Raila, the late Jakoyo Midiwo.
Odhiambo would later be rescued by the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal after he rejected persuasions to have them subjected to another ballot to determine a ‘clear’ winner between him and Jalang’o.
He went on to win the seat for the ODM on August 9, 2022, hence earning a second term in parliament. Odhiambo is among the nine opposition MPs who visited President William Ruto at the State House last year against the wishes of their party.
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Ever since, senior ODM politicians including party leader Raila Odinga have repeatedly pitched tents in his constituency to castigate his decision to cooperate with the government.
In the same breath, Odhiambo severely castigated Siaya Governor James Orengo, who has since declared that anyone who is supporting the government of the day, like the Gem MP, can and will not speak in his presence.
Odhiambo criticized him, saying that it is wrong for a leader to dare another for a dwell, for, Odhiambo averred, it is not the reason they were elected.
The legislator urged Orengo to drop his radical stance, lest they both suffer the consequences.
Similarly, the MP called on the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to summon Senators Edwin Sifuna, and Eddy Oketch, MPs John Mbadi and James Wandayo, and Governor Orengo over their utterances during the burial of ODM Migori County Chairman Philip Makabong’o in Rongo a fortnight ago.
Odhiambo claimed that the politicians belittled and insulted the police and the Interior PS Raymond Omollo.
“I want to call on NCIC, if you want the country to be peaceful so that there are no fights in funerals and no tension in the country, you must redress these issues,” he said.
The MP noted that Dr Omollo and Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo are the only senior members of the Luo community in government thus they deserve respect and support.
“My kinsmen, if our son has been put at the nerve center of government, let us support him,” he urged.
He also urged Dr Omollo not to be intimidated.
“Let them not sell fear to you. I have refused that they cannot sell fear to me. I have told them many times that I am going to be the SG of the ODM; I am not moving anywhere,” he said.
Why ODM should give me direct ticket 2027- Ruto-allied MP Elisha Odhiambo
