How parties should handle primaries

Now that the so-called party primaries are about to be concluded we can reflect on their necessity.

With the wisdom of hindsight, we can say that all proceeded as predicted.

The primaries were shambolic, chaotic, inept, violent and inefficient.

PARTY MEMBERS' LIST

It was amusing to note that Jubilee Party maintained a studious silence as we watched the chaos in ODM nominations.

It was not due to a new found charity or sympathy for ODM.

Jubilee knew its own waterloo was on the way and it finally came to pass.

The complaints were similar across all the major parties.

The first was the uncertainty as to whether the register to be used was that of party members or the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

VOTING DELAYS

One would have thought that this should long have been settled by the party organs before the primaries.

The second complaint was on delays in voting.

The consequence was that would-be voters who were not patient enough to wait or had other pressing engagements did not vote.

Contrary to the belief of many politicians, people have other matters to attend to besides voting.

INADEQUATE BALLOT PAPERS

The other complaint was insufficient ballot papers.

This gross inefficiency is inexplicable. Even where the number of registered party members is unknown, the best guide is the number of registered voters in a constituency, ward or county.

If ballot papers are provided following the registered number of voters in these entities there can be no shortage.

The figures are available in the 2013 IEBC register.

MISSING NAMES
Fourthly, and most weird was the complaint that the names of some candidates were missing from ballot papers.

Prior to the primaries there was a prolonged period to submit names, fill in forms and submit academic and clearance papers.

Eventually the lists of all candidates were compiled.

How would a candidate’s name simply go missing? This was pure, outright fraud.

Fifthly, there was also a claim that some candidates made their own ballot papers.

This is a criminal enterprise ordinary political parties have no capacity to prevent.

Ballot papers made by political parties are cheap and lack security features. Dishonest candidates could easily make their own.

FAKE NEWS

After all, in Busia County, criminal elements produced a fake Daily Nation, headlining the alleged defection of Funyula MP Paul Otuoma from ODM to Jubilee.

It was hilarious but extremely damaging to Dr Otuoma.

Many people were also disenfranchised, allegedly because their names were not in the “registers”.

Party registers were full of anomalies or non-existent. There were also alleged fake “kidnappings”.

CORRUPTION

At first Kenyans wondered how a stage-managed kidnapping could help an aspirant. The media provided the answer – PUBLICITY.

A new phenomenon emerged in Migori, Homa Bay and Kitui, where returning officers would disappear and switch off their phones.

Migori achieved the lowest of all lows when both Mr Okoth Obado and Mr Ochillo Ayacko were declared winners of the ODM gubernatorial ticket.

Interestingly, too, despite fake opinion polls Ferdinand Waititu defeated William Kabogo in Kiambu County.

Corruption also reared its ugly head. Voters demanded bribes from politicians.

There were, in fact, no surprises. Similar chaotic primaries happened in 2007 and 2013.

AVAILABLE BUDGET

You cannot do the same thing in the same way and expect different results.

A party primary involving almost all registered voters is in effect a general election.

A general election is conducted by the IEBC at a cost of Sh35 billion with a staff about 500,000 people.

How on earth is it possible for Jubilee with Sh800 million and ODM with Sh400 million, to conduct a similar exercise effectively? It is not possible.

Also, the leaders will not accept an alternative system as they must pretend that their parties are “democratic”.

ELECTORAL COLLEGES

There have been needless deaths, injuries and destruction of property.

In some cases, deserving candidates have been unfairly locked out.

The way forward is to outlaw this mode of party primaries.

Kenyans must persuade the next Parliament to legislate for the creation of ward, constituency, county and national electoral colleges to pick candidates.

It is not proper to involve the IEBC in party primaries in view of its overall mandate.

However, Kenyans should consider the creation of an Election Nominations Board to provide logistical support for nominations.

It is naïve to expect politicians to supervise their own nominations.

Mr Kitonga is a senior counsel. [email protected]