The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Party announced on Thursday, March 20, that the dates for the upcoming grassroots elections have been set.
In a statement by the party's National Elections Coordinating Committee (NECC) chairperson, Emily Awita, ODM revealed that the Sub-Branch (Ward) elections would take place on Monday, April 7, at designated centres across the 47 counties.
The Branch (Constituency) level elections, on the other hand, will be held on Wednesday, April 9, in all 290 constituencies nationwide.
The notice further clarified that the elections would take place between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm and would be conducted either through consensus or voting by a show of hands.
"Only delegates elected at the Polling Unit level will be eligible to participate as voters or candidates," the notice further clarified.
"Delegates who have not paid the Ksh100 fee for the Polling Unit elections will not be eligible to participate in the Sub-Branch elections."
Those wishing to vie for any positions during the elections have been advised that the application period opened on 20 March and will close at midnight on 31 March.
As is often the case, 77 party officials will be elected nationwide across four committees: Mainstream, Women's League, Youth League, and Disability League. The application process can be accessed via the party’s official website or party app.
The positions include Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Treasurer, Deputy Treasurer, Organising Secretary, Deputy Organising Secretary, Secretary for Women, Secretary for Youth, Secretary for Disability, and Special Interest Group Representative, among others.
Applicants for sub-branch level positions will be required to pay a fee of Ksh200, except for the Chairperson, who will pay Ksh500.
At the branch level, aspirants for all non-executive positions—Women, Youth, Disability, and Special Interest/Marginalised Group Representatives—will be required to pay Ksh500, while all executive position aspirants will pay Ksh1,000, except for the Chairperson, who will pay Ksh1,500.
Upon completion of the elections, the Presiding Officer will be expected to announce the results, upload them to the Party App, and hand over the results template to the Returning Officer.
Any aggrieved members may file a complaint within 12 hours of the declaration of results via the App, at a fee of Ksh15,000 for sub-branch elections and Ksh30,000 for branch elections.
In the meantime, members have been urged to familiarise themselves with party regulations and verify their membership details by dialling *483*036#.
