JAKAKIMBA: Caroli has not BOUGHT me, I can NEVER be BOUGHT

Homa Bay senate aspirants intensify internal lobbying ahead of ODM Elections board decision
Reports that Homa Bay senate candidate Silas Jakakimba has been bought off by Caroli Omondi are farfetched and untrue, his campaign manager Tyrone Omole has revealed.
“He is in the race till the end. We are awaiting the decision of NEC. . .and why would anyone want to buy him? He is not in charge of NEC or even the elections board. His supporters may not even vote for the candidate purported to have bought him. Consider such reports as hearsay,” said Omole.
This is the last weekend for residents of Homa Bay ahead of the party’s decision to select one candidate among the seven aspirants for the by election slated for February.
There are reports of realignments with allegations that some candidates have opted out of the race and are now supporting others. Homa Bay Daily has learnt the ODM Elections Board will present three names to the party’s National Executive Council, NEC, to select one person to be the party’s flag bearer.

The beneficiaries of the political winds sweeping the county seem to be Eng. Okundi, Caroli Omondi and Silas Jakakimba.
This came even as revelations emerged that the ODM Elections board has struck out Moses Kajwang’ from contesting following the chaos which rocked the party nomination exercise and which is being credited to his Brother TJ Kajwang’s bank accounts. However, we were unable to confirm this as calls to the ODM Director of Communications Mr. Phillip Etale went unanswered.
Also out of the race is Fred Rabongo, whom sources reveal has opted out following nightlong meetings with top ODM officials. However, Rabongo may have opted following revelations of a battery charges on a Mombasa woman.
Oscar Kambona and George Mboya are still in the race, but their fates are not known, as the party is very unlikely to pick any of them which will automatically lead to a thrashing defeat by the moneyed Hillary Alila who is vying as independent.
Elsewhere delegates who were allied to Engineer Okundi have urged the NEB to consider any other candidate but not Caroli and Kajwang , they blamed the two for pushing the idea of Clan MoU that led to NEB to sidelining Okundi.
For Caroli, matters were made difficult as Suba Elders endorsed Silas Jakakimba who has also received the party’s endorsement from Ndhiwa sub branch after Alila who hails from Ndhiwa pulled out. Jakakimba’s chief campaign manager dismissed rumours that his candidate had stepped down for Caroli, saying such reports show the kind of desperation in their competitor’s camp.
“We are not even competing against Caroli. Our major challenge is on another candidate. Let’s not even talk about Caroli here,” said Tyrone Omole, the man in charge of Jakakimba’s campaigns.
Within NEC, the newly endorsed party honchos will face their hardest task in choosing one candidate. Several NEC members are young and formed part of the Team Fresh whom the late Kajwang’ viciously opposed. It remains to be seen if they will endorse Moses whose only selling point is that he should finish the term of his brother, much to the chagrin of Homa Bay voters who maintain the position wasn’t hereditary.