NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 2 — Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has postponed its party nomination by universal suffrage in Kilifi and Mombasa counties.
ODM had slated the exercise for April 5th and 6th.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the National Election Board stated they have rescheduled the nominations to pave way for consensus and consultation.
“The National Election Board will communicate the outcome of the consultation and consensus building and advice on the next steps,” Catherine Mumma, the chairperson of the board said.
The two counties are taunted as traditional political bedrock for ODM party and thus it was anticipated the nominations would be hotly contested.
The postponement of primaries in Kilifi and Mombasa came just a day after the party postponed the exercise in Nakuru over fear of violence.
The party’s election board said a new date would be announced.
Earlier, the NEB Chair noted that the party has resorted to use consensus method in party primaries to avert adversities among eligible candidates.
“We are encouraging the aspirants to speak to each other and not be negatively competitive at each other. We have issued direct tickets in seats where we have a single candidate and in cases of cultural nomination by communities,” Mumma stated.
Mumma noted NEB’s central committee will use opinion polls to settle on candidates where consensus building fails.
“We have not sat to make determination on who is getting direct nomination based on any opinion poll. We have strong candidates who have crossed from other political parties again we will give them the tickets,” she said.
ODM had earlier announced it will hold its party primaries between April 1 and April 21, 2022.
The Raila Odinga-led party announced it will conduct the nominations through universal suffrage with registered party members allowed to participate in their respective electoral areas.
The NEB Chair however said that the nomination schedule is not cast on stone as the ongoing consensus efforts could eliminate adversarial contests among contestants.
“If we learn that in the electoral area we are going to the candidates have reached a consensus don’t be surprised if we don’t conduct voting nomination in the area,” said Mumma.
