Showdown looms as Ruto men plot against Uhuru-Raila super party plan

Deputy President William Ruto, President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga hold hands during the launch of the Building Bridges Initiative report at Bomas of Kenya in Nairobi on November 27, 2019. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

A grand plan by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM Leader Raila Odinga to amend the law to create a monolithic Narc-like party to capture power in 2022 has triggered a fresh political battle that will play out on the floor of Parliament today.

Allies of Deputy President William Ruto yesterday vowed to pull out all stops to frustrate the proposed amendments that seek to provide legal backing for the formation of a Coalition Political Party (CPP).

Uhuru and Raila are seeking to change the law to allow political parties backing their unity bid to join the Azimio La Umoja Movement without losing their identity.

The grand plan by the handshake partners is to have provisions that will allow political parties to field candidates jointly across the country under the yet to be registered outfit. The aim is to prevent self-cannibalisation of parties and candidates supporting the Azimio movement, through which Raila is expected to vie for the presidency.

National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya has been tasked with pushing through the proposed changes by getting the House to amend the Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2021. His mettle will be tested today and tomorrow during the Second Reading of the Bill.

Highly placed sources within Uhuru’s and Raila’s parties have indicated that the plan is to have the proposed amendments become law by February, by which time Uhuru is expected to sign it into law ahead of the August General Election.

Should the Bill sail through the third reading, it will proceed to the Senate for concurrence. Already, there are plans to convene a special sitting of the Senate if or when the Bill sails through the National Assembly.

Ruto’s allies have been lobbying legislators to reject the Bill. However, in the event that they fail and the Bill sails through, UDA is considering moving to court to challenge the constitutionality of the proposed changes.

Yesterday, lawyers allied to the Ruto-led United Democratic Alliance (UDA) vowed to do everything in their power to ensure MPs do not pass the Bill that will have far-reaching political ramifications.

Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi yesterday, a group of lawyers led by the UDA secretary for legal affairs, Edward Muriu, described the push to amend the Political Parties Act as illegal and unconstitutional.

“Our position on the issue... is that the amendment is ill-timed and not in good faith,” said Muriu. “Those proposals have been brought to serve certain interests and objectives and not for the prosperity and growth of democracy”.

UDA Secretary-General Veronica Maina also questioned the timing and speed with which the Bill was being pushed.

Recall Parliament

“One of the most suspect thing is to recall Parliament like a certificate of urgency two days’ shy of Christmas to debate this. Why wasn’t it brought when Parliament was still in session?” she asked.

Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Nelson Havi, a member of UDA and a parliamentary hopeful, said those seeking to amend the Act with just a few months to the August election were in breach of the Constitution.

“The game has already begun and it is improper to alter the game when it has already begun. They must be resisted in the same manner that BBI was resisted,” he said at a press briefing in the party’s Nairobi office yesterday.

Soy MP Caleb Kositany said the scheme by backers of Azimio La Umoja was meant to sponsor small political parties in various parts of the country.

“When you have a political party that is seeking to have a coalition before election, those are signs of weak political parties that have no clout and are seeking to ride on other people’s back,” said Kositany.

But backers of the Bill remained bullish yesterday, describing the Bill as timely and progressive.

National Assembly Minority Leader John Mbadi, Jubilee Coalition Joint Parliamentary Group Secretary Adan Keynan, Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu and Opiyo Wandayi (Ugunja) said they will ensure the Bill sails through.

They said the proposed law will cure political mischief in coalition formations. They further said that if enacted into law, infighting occasioned by sharing of political parties’ funds will be a thing of the past.

“Legislative processes are political in nature; all legislations are meant to cure something. It can either be mischief being corrected or furthering some interests. The interests can be for the people or political players,” said Mbadi.

“There is nothing wrong with Azimio La Umoja Movement coming with some amendments in the law. We want to anchor the movement in law and create a system where parties can form coalitions without dissolving,” he said. 

According to him, the proposed law seeks to allow political parties to form a coalition party, based on a party for parties model.

“Parties will be members of another party but they still exist as political parties. We are coming into realisation that our society is polarised and there is need to come up with a such working arrangement,” said Mbadi.

Keynan said: “This will help us depart from the traditional coalition formation on basis of personality cult and short-term gains for power”.

He dismissed accusations that the changes were being bulldozed to influence the outcome of next year’s polls. “Any insinuation that we are changing this law for the purpose of the 2022 election is misplaced,” he said. “These amendments have been crafted for posterity”. 

Wandayi warned that those opposed to the changes will be defeated on the floor of the House.

“The future of this country lies in coalitions. The law must therefore be aligned to this reality,” he said.

Nyeri MP Wambugu said members joining a CPP will be required to deposit a Coalition Agreement with the Registrar at least six months before the next election. This means interested parties have until February to sign up.

Not to be left behind, UDA is likely to have lined up several amendments to the Bill in an attempt to frustrate its passage as is. By yesterday, The Standard had established that at least three MPs allied to Ruto have amendments ready for submission ahead of today’s sitting.

Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa is one of the Ruto allies seeking to amendment the Bill.

“That clause 8 of the Bill be amended in paragraph (b) by deleting the words “six months” appearing immediately after the words “at least” and substituting therefor the words “sixty days””, proposes Barasa.

“It is also worth noting that Clause 2 adopts a broad definition of a political party which technically means that even an NGO or a PBO can qualify,” he said.

He is also opposed to provisions on party nominations. The Bill has proposed powers to give parties leeway to issue direct and indirect nominations. Direct nomination means participation of registered members of a party in primaries while indirect involves use of party delegates to nominate candidates.