10 MPs led by Hon Paul Otumo, Hon Simba Arati and Hon Nicholas Gumbo just released the following statement at parliament buildings:
PRESS STATEMENT BY ODM MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
We, Members of ODM, want to state as follows:-
1. That we are Life Members of the Orange Democratic Movement.
2. That we are dedicated and loyal members of the Party.
3. That we are loyal to, and support, our Party Leader, The Rt. Hon. Raila Amolo Odinga, and would like to see him ascend to the leadership of this Country as the ultimate recognition of a life-time dedicated to expansion of the democratic space in Kenya, and his enduring quest to see Kenya being a truly free and just society.
4. Similarly, we do recognize that NO SINGLE INDIVIDUAL in the party, or in Kenya, has the magic wandd for realizing that quest. It requires the efforts, and participation, of all members, particularly those who believe in the Party, its ideals, and its leadership.
5. That is why we believe a major starting point in realizing this goal must necessitate getting the leadership of the Party through participatory process that has no room for exclusion.
6. It is for this reason that we totally reject attempts to have the top leadership of the party selected through an exclusivist process that mocks the dedication and commitment of faithful party members.
7. Therefore it is our position that the membership of the Party must participate in the election of party officials.
8. We also need a clarification on how, as the leading opposition party in Kenya, we should relate with this Government? It is of grave concern to us that some of those who have been purportedly given senior positions in the Party are not only known sympathizers of the government, but work actively with the Jubilee Administration. It is worth noting that a number of us have exposed themselves to costly personal risks n questioning some of the blatant failures of this Administration: How then do we feel when the very same people we have been criticizing for working with the government/Jubilee Administration are now supposedly going to be our leaders in the party?
9. We therefore urge our Party Leader to terminate the process of sanitizing these “selectees†and initiate the process of electing our officials through the participation of party members, by completing the process which aborted early in the year.