Amani Coalition leader Musalia Mudavadi dealt double blow as registrar says he’s not UDF leader

Amani Coalition leader Musalia Mudavadi shakes hands with his running mate Jeremiah Kioni (right) ahead of last year’s General Election

Amani Coalition leader Musalia Mudavadi is in shock after the Registrar of Political Parties confirmed that he and his deputy Jeremiah Kioni are not on the list of party officials.

The Registrar dealt a further blow to the United Democratic Front (UDF) leader saying that he had no powers to rebrand the outfit to Amani National Congress since that party had been registered by another entity.

The former Deputy Prime Minister has been struggling to shake off the tag that UDF was formed by authorities at State House in the run up to the last General Election to reduce CORD leader Raila Odinga’s popularity in the vote-rich basket of Western region.

In a letter dated September 25, Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u wrote to the duo informing them that they were not officials and could not act or transact business on behalf of UDF since their names were not on the list during the submission all party officials.

The UDF National Executive Council (NEC) members list seen by The Standard indicates that there are 14 officials, with nominated MP Hassan Osman as the chair, Nancy Gachoka and Nasir Maalim as vice chairs while Dan Ameyo and Abraham Limo as first secretary general and second, respectively.

BONE OF CONTENTION

The bone of contention has been that the Amani leader called for a meeting on September 16, which was only attended by two NEC members Kassim Sawa (organising secretary) and Petronila Were (deputy secretary general and party chief executive).

UDF Chairman Hassan Osman claimed that his team was ousted on Wednesday, September 17 and forwarded a list of new officials to the registrar of political parties, a list which was declined by the registrar.

“I am being pushed out because I refused to endorse what was unconstitutional.

The meeting in Naivasha was not a policy making body and I could not have signed a document from a meeting which is unconstitutional.

“The UDF constitution says it’s only NEC that can amend, reject or endorse a resolution. The meeting in Naivasha was not a NEC exercise,” said Osman.

The besieged chairman accused some UDF members of wrecking the party by trying to use shortcuts in their quest for power and political relevance.

Article 9 of the UDF Constitution states that meetings of all party organs and committees shall be convened by the chairperson or in his absence the vice chairperson, who shall cause the secretary general to issue notice of not less than 14 days to the said effect.

“The court order and the registrar’s letter are full proof that the party is intact and fraudsters will be dealt with according to the law, party constitution and Political Parties Act in the right procedure,” said Osman.

Diversionary tactic

He said there has been a diversionary tactic employed by some lawmakers to taint his name, saying that he is working with the United Republican Party on the basis that he is living in Eldoret town, the home turf of the Deputy President.

However, new UDF Secretary General Justus Kizito admitted that the party resolved to withdraw from the Jubilee alliance via gradual progressive political disengagement.

Kizito claims to be the secretary general though Ms Ndung’u stated that the list of new party officials submitted to her office is yet to be effected.

In the meeting that brought together all elected leaders of UDF and the NEC, members resolved to rebrand UDF to Amani National Congress, a verdict that Osman rejected.

“We resolved to rebrand the party but Osman embarrassed everybody by walking out and failed to sign the document. He was sacked because of incompetence and incapacity to manage the affairs of the party,” said Kizito.

He said they agreed the party needed a new lease of life to have a national outlook.

“It’s true UDF has been so hard to sell in Western region because of the propaganda that was peddled by ODM that UDF is a State House project.

We must consolidate our support from our political bedrock which is Western,” said Kizito.