A newspaper article by the Daily Nation claiming that Homa Bay Women Representative, Gladys Wanga, was replaced as the county’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) chairperson is erroneous and false.
The story titled ‘Woman Rep Wanga replaced as ODM chair in changes’ was published in both the e-paper and hard copy on Tuesday, November 23.
It alleged that Wanga, who has served in the position since 2016, was replaced by Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma.
"Party officials in the county drafted a new list of delegates to provide a level of playground for all aspirants," an excerpt of the article read.
It further added that the officials led by constituency chairmen Narkiso Tuko (Suba North), Kennedy Marembo (Rangwe), Collins Oure (Suba South), George Maigo (Karachuonyo), Ogina Nyabola (Ndhiwa), Zachary Muga (Kabondo Kasipul) and Haquis Ondiwa (Homa Bay Town) stated they want all gubernatorial aspirants to approach the party nominations on equal footing.
"Because she's running for governor and is also a member of the National Executive Committee, Ms Wanga has been moved from the position of chairperson of the coordinating committee to be a member of the committee," Ms Tuko was quoted as saying in the article.
This was aligned with Wanga's aspirations to succeed incumbent Cyprian Awiti as governor in 2022. Wanga, however, is facing stiff competition from ODM National Chairman John Mbadi and former Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero.
ODM issued a statement clarifying that it had not announced nor approved any changes whatsoever.
“This story appearing in today's Daily Nation is erroneous. No such changes have been made to the leadership in Homa Bay.
“Media Houses are encouraged to check with the National Secretariat before running such stories,” ODM tweeted on Tuesday, November 23.
On November 18, ODM Party Leader Raila Odinga stated that they will issue direct tickets ahead of the 2022 General Election, rather than conduct primaries.
Another option the party would use, according to Raila, was picking a candidate by consensus.
“The party will employ four options to nominate its candidates. The first one will be consensus, while the delegates system will be the second option,” the former Prime Minister stated when he visited Kibra yesterday.
“The third option will involve the use of party members with membership cards and not just IDs (identity cards). Therefore, those who want to be members of the party should take advantage of the ongoing free registration to be able to participate in the primaries,” he added.
The article by the Daily Nation is thus an error and misleading, as no changes have been made within the ODM party.
This fact-check was produced by Kenyans.co.ke's John Mbati in partnership with Code for Africa with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie
