Raila Announces Mega Rally in Nairobi With 1 Aim

ODM leader, Raila Odinga, has announced a major rally in Kibra Constituency, Nairobi. 

According to a letter dated August 23, 2019, from Raila’s Communication Director, Dennis Onyango, the rally is meant for the party's supporters to engage with candidates eyeing the constituency's vacant seat, left by the late area MP Ken Okoth.

"As part of the plans for Kibra Constituency by-election campaigns, ODM Party leader Hon. Raila Odinga is inviting party supporters and voters to a rally at the Kamukunji grounds in Kibra on Sunday, August 25, 2019.

"At the rally, the party leader will introduce to the constituency to all those who have applied for the ODM ticket, to replace the late Hon. Ken Okoth as a Member of Parliament," the letter read.

File image of a section of ODM party leadership at a past Parliamentary Group Meeting

"The event will kick off at midday. The prospective candidates will be given time to articulate their agenda for the constituency," the communique added.

Earlier in the day, ODM tweeted, urging aspirants who had expressed interest in vying for the seat to submit duly filled nomination forms by 5pm on Friday.

ODM’s Election Board Chairperson, Judith Pareno, stated that the nomination date will be announced at a later date.

However, Pareno’s assurance comes amid intense pressure from Kibra residents, a majority of who have demanded a credible nomination process through party primaries, as opposed to a direct ticket being handed to a preferred candidate by the party’s top brass.

The IEBC announced the Kibra mini-poll would be held on November 7, 2019.

According to the poll agency, political parties and independent candidates can submit their candidatures between September 9, and 10, 2019.

IEBC Chairperson, Wafula Chebukati, however, noted that candidates intending to participate in the by-election as independent candidates, should not have been members of any political party at least three months before the date of the by-election. 

The late Kibra MP Ken Okoth