The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party grassroots elections are currently underway across the 47 counties in the country.
As per ODM’s National Elections and Campaigns Committee chair Emily Awita, only the registered members are allowed to participate in the exercise, which began at 10am on Wednesday, November 27.
In the elections, the ODM members thronged different polling stations to elect thirty officials; ten mainstream officials, ten youth league officials and ten women league officials.
The mainstream officials include the chairperson, vice chairperson, secretary, organising secretary, treasurer, women leader, youth leader, and three committee members.
The women and youth league categories comprise the chairperson, secretary, organising secretary and three committee members each.
The ODM party chairperson, Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga, participated in the exercise at Alara Korayo Polling Station, Rangwe Branch.
"With these grassroots elections, ODM is preparing to capture power in 2027. We will talk about coalitions at a later date. For now, let us work for our party and make it the most vibrant party," said Wanga while addressing journalists.
Nairobi woman representative Esther Passaris cast her vote at Loresho Primary School in Westlands Constituency.
In Nyandarua, the elections are being held online due to the low number of ODM members in the county.
ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna cast his vote at Loresho Primary School in Westlands Constituency.
Notably, Sifuna is vying to be a delegate at the polling center.
In Rongo Polling Station, ODM party election officials failed to show up, forcing members to run the election and submit results to Orange House.
It is worth noting that these are the first ODM grassroots elections in the absence of party leader Raila Odinga.
Raila ceded the slot to Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o to focus on his African Union Commission chairmanship campaign ahead of the vote slated for February 2025.
