ODM Plans Voter Registration Roadshow For City, As Prime Minister Sends Out Appeal

The ODM will be holding a Caravan Roadshow in Nairobi on Wednesday 12th December 2012 in a bid to drive up voter registration. 

Route details and timetable are on the image below. 

ODM strongly urges all of you to go out and register and mobilize others as well. We have  seven days left only go out and register.

On his part, Prime Minister Raila Odinga sent out an appeal to his fellow Kenyans to register as voters to help shape the destiny of our country.

"Whether you are in ODM, TNA,URP, Narc, Wiper or whichever party, I urge all eligible Kenyans to register and vote".

"I also urge my fellow presidential candidates to ask their supporters to register and remind them that every Kenyan has a right take part in the historic polls."

ODM Receive Major Defectors

ODM leader Raila Odinga to brief the media at Orange House at 12pm today, set to receive MAJOR defectors from various political parties and coalitions. 

This morning, Hon Gitobu Imanyara was at Orange House to announce his party of choice.
Imenti Central MP Mr. Gitobu Imanyara has today officially defected to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Mr. Imanyara who is in parliament on the Chama Cha Uzalendo (CCU) party ticket ditched his party to join the ODM saying it was the only party that had good policies for Kenya and its posterity.

Speaking at the ODM headquarters at Orange House, Mr. Imanyara declared that he will gun for the Meru County Senate seat on the ODM ticket.

 

Mr. Imanyara said the planned political rally in Maua area of Meru County scheduled for this weekend has been postponed to next weekend and that it will be graced by the Prime Minister and the Wiper Party leaders.
 

Mr. Imanyara and his team were received in the party by Secretary General Prof. Anyang' Nyong'o and Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Mr. Ababu Namwamba.
 

Prof. Nyong'o said Mr. Imanyara's decision was timely and a well calculated move saying ODM was the only party with a national outlook.
 

He said ODM will form the next government and that it was sure of winning majority of seats in both houses and the counties.
 

Others who joined the ODM were Bishop Godfrey Shiundu of the Reformed Catholic Church, who is vying for the Governorship of Transnzoia County who was accompanied by Bishops Robert Makona and Maurice Maelo.

Hon Gitobu Imanyara announces he will vie for senator of Meru county on an ODM ticket

This post will be updated shortly.

Women, Youth and the 2013 Presidential Election

According to the latest polls by three leading pollsters in Kenya – Ipsos Synnovate, Infotrak Harris and Strategic Africa, an average of 29% of Kenyan women support Raila Odinga, followed by Uhuru Kenyatta (20%) and William Ruto (12%).

So what do women want?

More than a quarter (28%) of women says the most important problem to address is: jobs. This is the top concern for only one in five men (21%). Among unmarried women, 29% say jobs are the biggest concern, followed closely by concerns about income inequality and the growing gap between rich and poor.

For women, it is the economy, stupid! And right now, Odinga holds a commanding lead among women. Close to half (47%) of all women say they trust Odinga more on the economy, compared to just 39% who trust his rivals. Among unmarried women – read youth- the margin is even wider - 57% trust Mr. Odinga more on the economy.

In a close election, where women are expected to comprise 52%  of the electorate (and unmarried women more than a third) these differences could be decisive.

So who really “loves women?!”

The candidate who understands that we must REFORM the economy to create jobs and address long-term structural economic inequality.

Whichever campaign can speak honestly and directly to these issues is likely to win over women. Right now, it is the ODM campaign that appears to grasp these underlying issues.