The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is staring at a political storm in Mombasa after a section of its members openly rejected the just-concluded county party primaries, declaring the outcome “null and void.”
In a strongly worded petition to the party’s National Elections Board (NEB) tribunal, the disgruntled members accused Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir, who also serves as ODM’s deputy party leader, of stage-managing the process to consolidate his grip on the county branch. They alleged that the so-called “consensus” through delegates was neither inclusive nor transparent, but instead engineered from the governor’s office to sideline rival camps.
During a closed-door meeting at a private venue in Mombasa, the faction dismissed the list of officials unveiled last week, insisting that the process was hijacked by a few elected leaders who locked out legitimate party activists. Among those excluded was outspoken ODM activist Victor Abayo, who has declared his ambition to unseat incumbent county branch secretary Geoffrey Busaka.
“We were deliberately locked out of the process of selecting delegates. What happened cannot be called consensus—it was a boardroom coup designed to protect incumbents,”
one of the members charged.
Moses Aran, popularly known as Civilizer, went further, alleging that the county organizing secretary was coerced into endorsing the controversial list.
“This was not democracy. It was intimidation,”
he claimed.
The disaffected group has now threatened to establish a parallel ODM office in Mombasa, arguing that the current leadership has betrayed grassroots supporters.
“We will form and open a parallel ODM branch forthwith,”
they declared.
Their rebellion exposes deep rifts in the Mombasa branch, long considered a party stronghold and a key pillar of ODM leader Raila Odinga’s coastal political base. The dissenters accuse local leaders of sidelining the party rank-and-file under the assumption that Odinga will not vie in 2027, thus paving the way for a Kenya Kwanza takeover.
Despite their anger, the disgruntled members insist they will not defect from ODM but instead “fight from within” to reclaim the branch from what they term as manipulation by a clique of leaders allied to Governor Nassir.
By the end of their meeting, the group had formally disowned the official list of county officials, effectively rejecting Geoffrey Busaka’s retention as branch secretary. The move sets the stage for a prolonged internal battle that could fracture ODM’s dominance in Mombasa and weaken its grassroots mobilization ahead of the next electoral cycle.
