Bid to amend law to pave way for party-hopping divides politicians

The Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u (right) and Director of the Kenya School of Law Patrick Lumumba (left) address journalists at the school yesterday. [photo: BEVERLYNE MUSILI/Standard]

Political parties have differed on whether the law should be amended to allow politicians to change their party loyalties.

While some parties have opposed a plan by the National Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee to weaken the law on party-hopping, others have welcomed the move.

Amani National Congress (ANC) Secretary General Geoffrey Osotsi said yesterday that changing the law to allow party-hopping will reduce the gains made in enhancing democracy in the country.

Mr Osotsi claimed that the move is a plot by the Jubilee government to seek support from small parties that have vowed that they will not dissolve.

“Jubilee has realised that merging their affiliate parties is becoming a hurdle and therefore now want to allow people to support candidates in other political parties. This is unacceptable and we will fight it,” said Osotsi.

The ANC official claimed that some members affiliated to Jubilee are behind the plot to change the Political Parties Act to allow members to move from one party to another.

Osotsi is convinced that changing the Political Parties Act will only advantage the Jubilee coalition as it wants support to form Jubilee Party but some of its affiliates have refused to dissolve.

Members of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee had said that party-hopping should be allowed without the possibility of disciplinary action from mother parties.

Committee Chairman Samuel Chepkonga (Ainabkoi) told the Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u that implementing the provision barring political nomadism would be difficult and was likely to kill political friendship.

“This provision has been hard to implement so we suggest it be struck out. In any case how do you say that someone who drums up support for a candidate from another party loses his seat? That will kill friendship,” said Mr Chepkonga when Ms Ndung’u appeared before the committee.

Despite the MP’s argument, the reality is that party hopping will allow MPs to dance to the expediencies of the moment and benefit from political patronage which comes with having one leg in a competing party.

In a country where there is little or no political party ideology, politicians have been supporting candidates from other parties without being disciplined.

ROGUE MP

Osotsi rubbished the legislators’ assertions that there is no way of telling whether a rogue MP has resigned from his sponsoring party or not.

“There is no difficulty in disciplining errant party members. The MPs are just trying to justify party-hopping and indiscipline,” said Osotsi.

The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is also opposed to the plan to dilute the law that will allow parties to poach members from other political parties.

The party’s Political Affairs Secretary, Opiyo Wandayi, claimed the plan is just one of the ways through which the Jubilee administration “wants to kill democracy”.

“The responsibility of party discipline should be a shared duty between the political parties and the Registrar of Political Parties,” said Mr Wandayi.

But Onyango Oloo, The National Alliance’s secretary general, took a swipe at Osotsi and blamed the 10th Parliament for watering down the Political Parties Act in the run-up to the 2013 polls.

Mr Oloo said that Parliament should be allowed to perform its legislative functions without intimidation and threats.

“The Jubilee government is not allowing party-hopping. Parliament is free to make its laws. If they think party-hopping is good so be it,” said Oloo.

The Registrar of Political Parties also waded into the debate saying that the process of discipline should begin with the parties.