Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has expanded the membership of the transitional committee to accommodate all the key figures in last week’s abortive ODM elections as he seeks to mend cracks in the party.
Mr Odinga’s decision seems to be aimed at containing rifts within the troubled Orange Democratic Movement.
On Thursday, he unveiled a final 10 member team to join the interim executive committee created by the national governing council last week. The committee, which held its first official meeting yesterday at the Orange House, will be in place indefinitely. The team agreed that Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho and his Kakamega counterpart Wycliffe Oparanya would co-chair the transitional team.
“The team has a lot of work to do. We will talk about the timeline only after it has completed the assignment given to it,” Mr Odinga explained.
Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba and nominated Senator Agnes Zani, who were battling for the position of secretary-general, will work together as the transitional team’s joint secretaries.
Mr Odinga led the committee in accommodating nearly all significant members of the two teams to avoid what looked like a fall-out in ODM.
Turkana Governor Josephat Nanok, Eldas MP Adan Keynan and Kisumu politician Rosa Buyu joined the team after being nominated by Mr Namwamba’s group while Dr Zani, who was previously dropped, was included after her team raised questions on the decision.
Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang’ and MPs Abdikadir Aden (Imbala Mbala) and Timothy Bosire (Kitutu Masaba), who were in Dr Zani’s group, were also incorporated in the team.
Wundanyi MP Thomas Mwadegu and Funyula’s Dr Paul Otuoma will serve in the committee as alternate members representing Mr Joho and Mr Oparanya respectively whenever they are too busy to be in the city.
Legislators Florence Mutua,Junet Mohammed, Joseph Nkaissery and John Waluke were replaced as members of the taskforce investigating the Kasarani chaos and replaced by a team of five experts to be chaired by Jotham Nyukuri.-nation.co.ke
