Blame Games Rock Raila Odinga's Family over ODM Nominations

Blame game between NASA leader Raila Odinga’s brother Oburu Odinga and his cousin Gem MP Jakoyo Midiwo has taken the center stage with Midiwo last week accusing Oburu of being behind his lose in the just concluded ODM nominations.

Midiwo now says that Oburu threatened to commit suicide if he (Midiwo) wass given the ODM party ticket to seek re-election for his Gem Constituency seat. According to Midiwo, Oburu declared that the ODM certificate will be issued "over his dead body".

Midiwo lost the nominations to Elisha Odhiambo, but Midiwo claimed the primaries were not free and fair accusing Oburu of manipulating the results in favor of his opponent.

“Oburu maintained that plans to have the certificated to be handed to me will not happen,” Midiwo told The Star. Midiwo said that despite presenting his case to the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal, his rival Odhiambo was given the certificate and he was yet to get any response from the tribunal.

He further said that the returning officer in Gem ODM primaries was under "strict instructions from above" to ensure that he did not clinch the nomination

“I was not given any document to sign, either conceding defeat or accepting it. Anayo left in his vehicle in a huff,” he said.

“The only person mandated to read the results is the returning officer and he was there. This election was not about Jakoyo but about the people of Gem,” he said in a press conference at Serena Hotel in Nairobi on Saturday.

Midiwo revealed that he will defend his seat as an independent candidate. "If I cannot get justice because of Oburu, I will defend my seat on an independent,” he said, but noted he will campaign for Raila as he has no problem with him.