Wetangula Expelled From Ford Kenya Leadership For Abuse Of Office And Misappropriation Of Funds.
 |
| A section of Ford Kenya leadership addressing the press during a press briefing at a Thika Hotel. |
In a meeting held in a Thika Hotel, delegates from 15
counties accused Wetangula of ‘killing’ the party organs since he assumed the
leadership of the party six years ago.
“We have gathered here today to address some of the
challenges that our party are faced with since the elevation of Wetangula as
the party chairman. He has flouted virtually all the sections of the party constitution.
Who gave him the mandate to appoint his friends in the NEC. The appointment of
Bonny Khalwale to the position of Deputy Party leader is null and void. This is
the mandate of the National Delegate Council and as per our constitution, these
are elective posts that cannot be assumed by an individual,” said Peter Munyae
the Ford Kenya National Organising Secretary.
Munyae accused Wetangula of evading party elections that
should have been held last year adding that the party now risked deregistration
by the Registrar of Parties for a bleach of the Political Parties Act.
“Ford Kenya is threatened with deregistration for bleaching
all the rules of the Political Parties Act. The national leadership of any
political party in Kenya is supposed to portray the face of Kenya. Wetangula’s
version of the leadership is now a Western Kenya affair with him as the leader
and Khalwale as his deputy. We are definitely going to work out a formula to
salvage the party from sinking as a result of poor leadership,” said Munyae.
Trans Nzoia Chairperson and the proposed party leader Ken
Wafula said that since Wetangula had failed to respond to the accusations
leveled against him a week ago, the delegates had no other option but to demand
him to vacate his position. He termed the elevation of Wetangula into the helm
of Ford Kenya leadership 6 years ago as worst accident to have ever happened.
“Wetangula must go if at all this party is to regain its
position as a respected and formidable force in the 2017 elections. We have
carried this burden (Wetangula) for the last five years. This burden was from
KANU and we are telling Gideon Moi and Isaac Salat that we are leaving your
burden on the roadside for you to pick it up. We are going to change the entire
leadership of Ford Kenya and nothing is going to stop us,” said Wafula.
He warned Khalwale to stop acting as an official of the
party since according to Wafula, Khalwale was acting illegally as he was still
an UDF member and Senator.
Mumo Kitheka, the National Secretary for Human Rights &
Democracy realisation wondered the logic behind Wetangula’s participation in
the mass action against the IEBC if he himself could not guarantee democracy
within his own party. He said that there was no way they would allow people
from one region to take over the party and they would ensure that they restored
sanity and order within the party.
Felix Minja said that the party needed to review its
constitution to eradicate sections that contradicted each other. He sighted an
example of the existence of both a party chairman and party leader positions as
one of the main reasons there existed friction within the party organs.
Nairobi’s chairperson Lupesia Komesa described Wetangula’s
political history as scandalous and he was unfit to run for presidency. He demanded
an audit of the party’s financial accounts claiming that Wetangula had pocketed
about sh. 11 million assigned to the party as government grant to parties without
involving the party organs.
“Enough is enough. We want Wetangula to tell us where the sh.
3milliom he has been receiving annually for the last four years from ODM as the
party’s share from the government has been going. If he can steal party money,
what will happen if he becomes the president (of Kenya). Si atamaliza pesa yote
ya serikali?”posed Komesa.
The counties represented in this press briefing included
Kericho, Bomet, Kisumu, Trans Nzoia, Machakos, Makueni, Kitui, Embu Meru,
Kirinyaga, Nyandarua, Murang’a, Kiambu, Nairobi among others. A month ago in
Kisumu, 18 other counties met and resolved the same. They are soon meeting 10
other counties in the Rift Valley in the pursuit of the same agenda.
No comments: