Jubilee, ODM reveal plans for grassroots polls amid pandemic

Jubilee Party and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) have put in place strategies for conducting grassroots elections and strengthening themselves amid the Covid-19 pandemic, as they prepare for the 2022 poll.

Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju said the party’s elections will take place as scheduled but after the conclusion of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) process.

“The grassroots elections are on but the most important thing right now is passage of the BBI,” he said. “So whatever we decide to do will only happen after the BBI referendum.”

The Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2020 is currently before the two Houses of Parliament – the National Assembly and the Senate - following its approval by at least 42 county assemblies.

Mr Tuju said the matter remains a priority to the ruling party and that it will not make any major move as far as grassroots elections are concerned before the BBI is dispensed.

“After the BBI, we shall address issues of elections, Covid-19 challenges notwithstanding,” he said.

ODM, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ‘handshake’ partner Raila Odinga, is devising policies to ensure the grassroots polls go on as planned.

ODM’s mixed methods

The party’s National Elections Board (NEB) had announced that the elections would be conducted between March and April.

However, NEB chairperson Catherine Mumma told the Nation that in view of the President’s directive on political gatherings, the party is developing guidelines for conducting the polls in strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols.

“The board met last week and is finalising the guidelines. We shall now meet with the Central Committee of the party to try and adjust the booklet of our operations,” Ms Mumma said.

She said ODM will use mixed methods including election and replacement of some officials through consensus.

“The principle of the formula we want is inclusivity as per election laws, which means we will encourage consensus more than anything else,” Ms Mumma revealed.

The elections will take place at polling stations, she said.

“We want a structure that includes people in every village, in order [for locals] to occupy the positions of chairpersons, secretary, organising secretary, treasurers and their deputies, as well as representatives of women, the youth and persons with disabilities.”

Full representation

The same process, Ms Mumma noted, will apply to the polls at the ward, constituency and county levels, before a National Delegates Conference (NDC) is convened to elect national office bearers.

“The principle is to use any formula you want provided that when you end up with that polling station structure, it involves everybody. Meet the two thirds gender rule, have youths and persons living with disabilities, not just people from just one village. One must [adhere to] the geographical diversity of that polling station,” the official said.

Ms Mumma further said that in areas with many clans, they must all be represented in the party’s leadership at the polling station level so that none is dominant.

This, she said, will apply to all the levels at the grassroots.

The party hopes to use the polls to strengthen itself and have solid structures ahead of the 2022 General Election, she said.

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