William Ruto allies plot House showdown on Raila-Uhuru Azimio plans

Lawmakers allied to Deputy President William Ruto have vowed to shoot down proposed amendments to the electoral law in next week’s special parliamentary sittings, setting the stage for a showdown with those allied to the nascent Azimio La Umoja Movement.

The amendments that are up for discussion are backed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga, and are intended to create a legal structure for the formation of a political coalition under the Azimio La Umoja banner.

Two special sittings of the National Assembly are planned for December 21 and 22, where the amendments, in a Bill signed by House Majority leader Amos Kimunya, are slated for debate.

DP Ruto-allied MPs, including Aden Duale (Garissa Township), Cecily Mbarire (nominated), Caleb Kositany (Soy) and Nelson Koech (Belgut), in separate interviews declared they would oppose the government-sponsored Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2021, terming it an attempt to reintroduce party dictatorship.

Mr Kimunya and the ODM secretary of political affairs Opiyo Wandayi downplayed the threats, arguing that it is intended to promote the rule of law.

President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga are relying on the amendments to form a coalition party ahead of next year’s polls.

MPs aligned to Dr Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party are apprehensive that the amendments, which are critical to next year’s election, are coming too close to the August 9, 2022 General Election.

They are concerned that the changes have been “carefully crafted” to suit President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga’s interests “with the intention of influencing the President’s succession battle”.

Allies of Mr Kenyatta within the Jubilee Party and Mr Odinga’s ODM have in the recent past publicly announced that they will form a pre-election coalition.

What is also concerning the Ruto camp is the fact that the Bill seeks to broaden the definition of political parties to an extent that could mean public policy advocacy groups becoming political outfits. It seeks to create coalition parties that will then present or sponsor candidates in elections.

The current law provides that political parties in a coalition sponsor their respective candidates in any other election other than the presidential election.

The amendments further seek to “strengthen” Section 14 of the principal law to have party members expelled on the basis of violating their party constitutions.

“Parties get into exclusive coalitions of their own volitions and not to be shepherded into ceding the right to field candidates in an election to the coalition,” said Mr Duale, while opposing the proposed amendments.

The proponents of this Bill also want coalition agreements signed six months to elections, perhaps to allow room for joint nominations. ODM, Wiper, ANC, Ford Kenya and CCM signed the National Super Alliance (Nasa) coalition agreement less than three months to the 2017 polls.

Mr Duale said expelling a member for going against a party's thinking goes against the political rights enshrined in the Constitution and the parties’ law. 

“How do you then advocate change of party policies or ideology internally?” he posed.

Mr Kositany said: “Because Jubilee Party failed to punish some of us wrongfully accused for all manner of things, it now wants to entrench political party dictatorship. Creating coalition parties only serves to promote tribalism and goes against the ideals that made us form Jubilee. We will reject this thing.”

Ms Mbarire faulted the timing, saying: “They’ve talked of forming a coalition and are, therefore, creating this law for their own selfish interests like they tried with the BBI but failed spectacularly. This is not right. This Bill should not be supported.”

She noted that expelling members on account of going against their party ideologies is modern-day dictatorship. 

“There are some matters that parties will push for that will not be popular with members. I urge my colleagues to reject it as it will also haunt them if it sees the light of day,” she said.

“The motive of this Bill is nothing but to harass, intimidate and victimise members. They now want to formalise what they wanted to do in Jubilee but failed. We should not make it easy for parties to expel members as it has a bearing on diluting the independence of Parliament.” 

The BBI process to amend the Constitution was declared unconstitutional by the High Court, a decision that was upheld by the Court of Appeal. The matter is currently at the Supreme Court.

Though he denied knowledge of any plot to shoot down the Bill, Mr Kimunya was rather guided in his comments. “I have not heard any of them expressing those sentiments. However, I am aware that there are very good proposals in the Bill that are good for all parties and aspirants.”

Mr Kimunya, nonetheless, welcomed diverse views on the Bill.

“In the end, our objective is to make laws that are good for our republic, not parts of it,” he said.

But even as UDA-allied MPs breathed fire, Mr Wandayi reminded them that the political future of the country lies in coalitions.  

“It is important that the law is aligned to that reality, to create an enabling legal environment for coalitions to function well,” he said.  “The essence of this amendment is to reduce the rigidity that renders coalitions ineffective and purposeless.” 

Yesterday, House Clerk Michael Sialai notified MPs of the sittings through a text message. The other business to be transacted include the approval of appointment of the chairperson of the Public Service Commission and members of the National Gender and Equality Commission.

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