Raila Odinga's foot soldiers Eliud Owalo and Homa Bay Senator are said to have called Mr. Namwamba a Jubilee spy to his face during an ongoing CORD retreat in Naivasha. Namwamba had requested the two to apologize and stop a smear campaign against him. The two had risen and instead of apologizing they had gone ahead to call him a spy for the Jubilee Government.
The ensuing scuffle which almost ended in an exchange of blows saw a frustrated Namwamba storm out of the meeting near tears and leave for an unknown destination.
Later Outgoing ODM Sec-Gen Anyang Nyong'o issued a statement saying there had been no exchange and that M.r Ababu had merely excused himself to go to Mombasa for a function.
But later, Owalo sensationally claimed Namwamba had struck a deal to vie for a key position in United Republican Party of Deputy President William Ruto. “He accused me of being part of a group of people calling him a Jubilee mole and I am here to confirm that he is indeed a mole. He is not in ODM,” Owalo said. Owalo said ODM could invoke the Political Parties Act to block Namwamba from vying for any party seat, claiming the MP had been on the verge of quitting ODM and only resurfaced a few weeks ago, warning they could use legal means to block him.
“He just came back to ODM after striking a deal with Jubilee and he wants to vie, then mortgage our party,” Owalo said. He added: “He should wait for URP elections to vie for the deputy leader position, but not in ODM. It is high time we invoked the Political Parties Act to strike him out.” ‘Young Turks’ in ODM, mainly from South Nyanza, have been up in arms against a push spearheaded by Kajwang and other allies of Raila to line up candidates from various parts of the country instead of exclusive names from the party’s bedrock.
Interestingly Mr. Raila did nothing to stop the attack on one of his most trusted and vocal cronnies