Details have emerged on why the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) delegates snubbed Jimmy Wanjigi’s Coast tour over the weekend.
The politician-cum businessman who has announced plans to challenge his party leader Raila Odinga for a presidential ticket had scheduled to meet ODM delegates to solidify his support ahead of the party primaries.
During his tour, Wanjigi was expected to meet over 3,000 ODM delegates drawn from the counties of Kilifi, Mombasa, and Lamu but none showed up.
The delegates said the ODM presidential ticket contender did not inform them of his tour and that Wanjigi could have been at the coast for leisure activities.
But on his part, the presidential hopeful said the party has denied him the list and contacts of ODM delegates in what he terms as an orchestrated scheme to lock him from meeting the delegates.
“We don’t know who the officials are. We don’t know how to get them. We have written to the party and we have no idea how to reach them,” Wanjigi said.
He said he has written four letters to the party requesting to be issued with the list of delegates but he is yet to get a response for any of them.
“I am not speaking alone. I am speaking for a lot of people who have vied for seats through this party, whether governors, senators, MPs, and MCAs, who have been disenfranchised by that office,” Wanjigi said.
Last week, Kilifi county ODM chairman and Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire termed Wanjigi’s tour of the coast as an ‘adventure’ saying that the ODM presidential ticket contender is not paying the much-needed attention to the party’s protocols in regards to presidential campaigns.
“I think he is on an adventure, if he has to come to meet delegates, he should have followed party procedures,” Mwambire said.
