Season of party realignment and shifting alliances back with a bang

Former Deputy Rigathi Gachagua(Right),receive Compliance certificate from former UDA Secretary general Cleophas Malala.[Edward Kiplimo,Standard] Despite the array of laws meant to instill political party discipline in place, the country's politicians have continued to compromise political hygiene and good order. The recent move by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to form his political party, the Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), and the ongoing political alignments will yet again usher in protracted legal battles between parties and the elected leaders over their fleeting allegiances. Political experts believe that efforts by parties to "discipline" their rebel members will be an exercise in futility and describe this conduct as a betrayal of multi-party democracy. Leaders who disagree with their parties should ideally resign and seek a fresh mandate from the people. Already, the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has initiated disciplinary proceedings against nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba for her participation in welcoming former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and attending his homecoming event at Gusii Stadium. UDA is unhappy with remarks made by Orwoba during an interview on Spice FM on April 22, where she criticized the government's labour mobility programme, a flagship initiative of President William Ruto's administration. She has, however, obtained a court order suspending the proceedings until her case is heard and determined. In a ruling delivered by Justice Lawrence Mugambi, the court granted a conservatory order halting the process pending the hearing and determination of the case. "That pending hearing and determination of this application, a conservatory order is hereby issued suspending disciplinary proceedings by the respondent against the petitioner founded on the allegations contained in a letter to the petitioner by the UDA - Ref UDA/7/DISP/25 dated 07/05/2025," read the court order in part. This can serve as a precursor of what will happen between UDA and Gachagua's allies, about 30 in number. But despite the efforts by the political parties to rein in errant members, no political party has succeeded in expelling either elected or nominated members since the implementation of the Political Parties Act 2011. The Political Parties Act lays out grounds when a member can be deemed to have resigned from a political party, and among them is by promoting the ideology, interests or policies of another political party, the single most cited clause used by parties while expelling their members. Opposition chief Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Party (ODM), the political party that has unsuccessfully expelled its errant members, started utilising the Act barely a year after its operationalisation. On August 24, 2011, the party axed rebel party members from Cabinet, among them President William Ruto, then Minister for Agriculture, the then East African Community Minister Hellen Sambili and Assistant Minister for Livestock Aden Duale. On October 31, 2016, the Orange party expelled ten elected leaders, among them former Secretary General Ababu Namwamba, Sirisia MP John Waluke and Isaac Mwaura. Others expelled were former Kwale governor Salim Mvurya and former Kisii deputy governor Joash Maangi. In March 2019, ODM's National Governing Council ratified the party's disciplinary committee finding that former Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Affirmative Action and Gender, Aisha Jumwa, then Malindi MP, had ditched the party by supporting Ruto, then Deputy President. On February 8, 2021, Mwaura, who this time had been nominated as a senator by Jubilee after ditching ODM, was suspended alongside Seneta Mary Yiane, Naomi Waqo, Millicent Omanga, Prengei Victor, Iman Dekow and Gona Christine Zawadi. While others were pardoned, Mwaura's expulsion was taken a notch higher after the Political Parties Tribunal okayed the party's decision, a move that saw his name de-gazetted, leading to a protracted legal battle between him and the then ruling party. In what so far remains the closest attempt by the political party to expel its member, Mwaura was confined to political cold for seven months and only got a reprieve after the High Court quashed the decision by the party and the Political Parties Tribunal. In the newest attempt to instill party discipline, ODM expelled five MPs: Elisha Ochieng' (Gem), Caroli Omondi (Suba South), Gideon Ochanda (Bondo), Tom Ojienda (Senator, Kisumu County) and Phelix Odiwuor (Lang'ata). They were accused of openly associating with and supporting the activities of a rival political party and opposing lawful decisions and resolutions made by the party. Stakeholders in the political arena, including the Registrar of Political Parties, secretaries general and political party officials, feel the drafters of the Political Parties Act were deliberate in creating a balance of the excesses of the political party's leadership. "The drafters of political parties' laws crafted them in such a manner that the stages and procedures of expelling members would protect them from unfair termination," Ann Nderitu, the Registrar of Political Parties, noted. She adds that the drafters envisaged the Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanism (IDRM) in their effort to discipline the errant members and not expel them, hence, the reason it has been difficult for parties to expel their members. "But the Kenyan political system lacks political hygiene that would allow members to either stick to their parties or resign and seek a fresh mandate and, to mitigate this, we are in the process of reviewing and analyzing the post-election happenings to recommend amendments to political laws," Nderitu said. Nderitu also called for the amendment of the Political Parties Act in a bid to give strict timelines of determining cases arising from political parties and their 'errant' members. "The Constitution gives guidelines to listen to petitions arising from the President and those of MPs, senators and governors. But when it comes to the political party disputes, there are no timelines. This should be addressed so that both the expelled members and political parties get justice," she said. Nominated MP Sabina Chege, who survived expulsion efforts from Jubilee in 2023, said the insincerity of party leadership was to blame for the failed removal of the elected leaders from the parties and faulted a section of the law, which she said has been abused. "The clause that allows the political party to initiate expulsion of an elected leader for promoting ideologies of another party is vague and I am in the process of sponsoring an amendment to remove the provision," she said. According to Chege, the clause should be replaced with "when a member proclaims or deregisters from the sponsoring party, will be deemed to have resigned from the party." She said the vagueness of the current provision was that it was other members who decide on behalf of the victim on why he or she has and has not resigned. But the unhygienic nature of Kenyan politics was also exhibited recently by the decision by UDA and ODM to form a cooperation agreement, which the legal minds believe is not anchored in any law. People's Liberation Party leader Martha Karua, who was Raila's running mate in the 2022 general election, has called on both the President and ODM leaders to formalise their arrangement through the Registrar of Political Parties. Karua believes that the current setup of the broad-based arrangement undermines multiparty democracy by weakening the Opposition's ability to hold the government accountable. "The framers of our Constitution found it fit to decree that Kenya is a multiparty democracy, that in Parliament, there would be a minority side and a majority side. But when you merge the two, as is happening in broad-based governance, you deny the people the power to question the government," Karua said. She further challenged Raila to make the collaboration official through a registered coalition and allow independent opposition parties to play their role. "I still request them to do what the law says: to enter into a political holy matrimony, which is a coalition registered under the Registrar of Political Parties, so that key parliamentary committee seats are taken by parties that are not in government, ensuring healthy governance debates," she added.

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