ODM Party leader Raila Odinga
ODM Party leader Raila Odinga
Image: FILE
 

ODM leader Raila Odinga has announced the party will early next year hold grassroots elections “to inject new blood” ahead of the 2022 polls.

The announcement came days after the Orange party revealed that it was embarking on a marathon online registration of members as part of its revamping strategy.

Raila is set to launch the registration drive on Tuesday next week as he formally inaugurates the new ODM headquarters – fully owned by the party – situated in Lavington.

Speaking Tuesday when he held a consultative meeting with ODM Nairobi MCAs, Raila said the party’s grassroots polls are geared towards making ODM stronger.

“We have begun the process of membership recruitment. We are doing it digitally and I want to encourage as many people as possible to join the party and help us build a stronger political party.”

He said the polls will be free, fair and transparent and will be aimed at injecting new blood into the party leadership right from the village level to the top.

Raila also said the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) will heal the nation and lead to meaningful changes to the Constitution.

 He said during the referendum campaign, which led to the passing and subsequent promulgation of the current Constitution, it was agreed that the document was not 100 per cent perfect.

As such, there is a need for its review.

Raila said the BBI report will soon be out and will propose a way forward on how to fix a myriad of issues affecting Kenyans.

“One of the aims of the BBI is to end tribalism in our country,” he said.

“We want a country where one will appreciate being referred to as a Kenyan and not by his/her tribe,” the ODM leader added.

He said once made public, recommendations of the BBI report will be subjected to public participation and Kenyans will be required to read and make suggestions on the way forward.

Raila asked Nairobi county assembly Minority leader David Mberia to ensure equal representation of party/coalition members in assembly committees to avoid uneasiness among MCAs.

During the meeting, immediate former Minority leader in the assembly Elias Otieno promised to support his successor.

“I am going to work with and support Mberia in his new mandate. I am for the unity of the party MCAs and my wish is to see us discharge our duties diligently as members of one family,” he pledged.

Nairobi county assembly has been rocked by chaos, with some MCAs ganging up to impeach Speaker Beatrice Elachi.