By Anderson Ojwang
The pressure is mounting on the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Director of Elections, Junet Mohammed, to resign over the alleged bungling of the late Raila Odinga’s 2022 presidential campaigns.
Uriri MP Mark Nyamita wants Junet to resign as the Director of Elections after he failed to deliver the presidency in the 2022 general elections.
Junet was the Secretary General of the Azimio La Umoja Coalition in the 2022 general elections and was charged with handling the secretariat.
“I told Junet that in a mature democracy, when you are the director of campaigns and director of elections and you fail in that election, the honourable thing to do is to resign,” he said.
Nyamita blamed Junet for bungling Raila’s 2022 presidential bid and said he should never be allowed to dictate and control community politics.
“Donge ngani ema okethonwa gigi kod gimiel moko matindo tindo (He is the one who bungled the elections with petty dance). We are in pain as a people. Wan gi rem kaka oganda (we are in pain as a community). Kendo koro sani odwa pango wango (Now he wants to plan us as a community). Nyasaye achiel wangni wabiro deal kodi (One God, we will deal with you this time).”
Last Saturday, ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna accused Junet of bungling the 2022 presidential campaigns and of alleged misappropriation of agents’ fees meant for Central Kenya.
“You were eating Uhuru’s money instead of paying agents and allowed Wamunyoro (Rigathi Gachagua and President William Ruto) to defeat us.
The day we start the audit of the 2022 elections, it is good that you have started the debate. Let everyone say their contributions in the 2022 general elections.
I want to ask Junet Mohammed, when did Uhuru Kenyatta’s money start to be bad? Those days you used to take Uhuru’s money, some you did not bring to the party, and some you squandered,”he said.
Similarly, the Azimio La Umoja Volunteer Board, through one of its members, Ronny Raburo, accused Junet of shedding crocodile tears after failing to address the Central Kenya agents’ issue.
Raburo, who met the late Raila at breakfast ahead of the elections over the emerging presidential agents’ issue in Central Kenya, said the former Prime Minister tasked Junet to urgently handle the matter.
Ronny Raburo said that despite addressing the agents’ issue with Raila at a breakfast meeting and detailing Junet to urgently handle the matter, the latter went mute.
He said that two days to the eve of polling day, while attending the last agents’ training at the Kenya School of Law in Karen, they were informed from the ground that there was not a single agent in all the Central Province polling stations for IEBC briefing, and they sensed trouble.
“Raila called Junet and told him to handle our issue as a matter of urgency. We went downstairs with Junet to meet Julie Nabweara and Jackie (members of the volunteer board) after our briefing on the situation in Central Kenya.
Junet gave me his number to call him later in the day to meet him at the Kenya School of Law, Karen. Junet is yet to receive my calls to date,”he wrote.
Junet denied the allegations and instead accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta of releasing the agents’ funds to his brother and not to the secretariat.
“The answer is simple, clear and verifiable: former President Uhuru Kenyatta released the funds meant for election agents to his blood brother, Muhoho Kenyatta,” he said.
Junet said Muhoho Kenyatta, whom he claimed appointed one Mr Patrick Mburu, took charge of the recruitment and payment of agents.
“Mr Mburu presented himself as an IT expert, claiming he had the capacity to detect and prevent any manipulation of results by the IEBC.”
Junet claimed that around the time, Muhoho Kenyatta operated from an office in Westlands that was so restricted that even Raila Odinga, the party’s presidential candidate, could not access it freely.
“It is from this office — out of bounds for nearly all of us — that they claimed to handle the agents’ payments and other logistics. These are facts, not conjecture. I challenge Uhuru Kenyatta and Muhoho Kenyatta to publicly deny these facts,” he said.
Will Junet brave the post-Raila Odinga politics to remain at the helm of the party and oversee the party nominations?
