Parties draw daggers over EALA nominees

By Ken-Arthur Wekesa

The floor of Parliament will be the battle ring where ODM loyalists and renegades will flex political muscles over nominees to the East African Legislative Assembly.

As the House waits to debate the nine nominees next Thursday, some rebel MPs allied to the United Republican Party says they will block the five ODM candidates until they are involved in the process.

PNU and its affiliates are expected to nominate the other four members. “If they bring names that URP has no input in, they should certainly know the list will not be passed,” said Belgut MP Charles Keter, an ally of Eldoret North MP William Ruto.

But even as URP hits the roof over the list, the Orange party would not hear any of it, daring the rebels to make good their threat. The party says the law is that only PNU and ODM should share the slots.

ODM Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo maintains it is unthinkable to negotiate with URP or any other rebel outfit over ODM list, adding that apart from PNU, there are no URP slots as per the gazette notice.

Quit party  

He said Ruto and his allies had declared they left with all their paraphernalia and thus have no right to privileges accorded to ODM.

“They are strangers to us. You ask Ruto or Dujis MP Adan Duale when they last attended our parliamentary group meetings,” said the Gem MP who maintained the party is only engaging the 65 of its members who have since expressed interest in the seat.

Speaking to The Standard from China, Duale insisted the ODM PG has a minimal role in determining the nominees to the regional assembly, saying it is the exclusive preserve of the National Assembly. “Remind Midiwo that URP has 40 members and UDF has 30. If they don’t play ball, we will craft a formula to trash the list,” he said.

Duale, an ardent critic of ODM leadership, claimed their push to have the Orange party consult them was in good faith to achieve a win-win situation for all parties.

But ODM PG Secretary Ababu Namwamba dismissed Duale’s claims. “Ruto’s corner hardly has 10 MPs and Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi’s is even more dismal. That is a threat of a shadow,” he said.

The Budalang’i MP said: “ODM will nominate Eala members in strict adherence to the rules. Neither URP nor UDF have the mandate or locus standi to give us conditions. We shall not be intimidated by entities that do not even register in the radar of Parliament.”

Apart from Kenya, the four other member states have submitted the list of their respective nominees. If party interests continue taking centre stage, it is feared Kenya will not beat the deadline in submitting its list.

This means the country will not be represented in the regional assembly, a situation that could cripple Eala operations. “Because the establishment of the EAC treaty involves all the member states, operations of Eala will be crippled in the absence of one’s representatives,” National Assembly Clerk Patrick Gichohi says.

The deadline given by the clerk’s office for submission of party lists was last Friday for verification of documents before submission to the Committee of Defence on Wednesday. Gazettement of the nominees will be done by June 1 and the swearing in conducted on June 5.

“Even as we race against time, parties should ensure they comply with sub-section 50 of the treaty that provides for gender representation as well as party and geographical representation,” the clerk added.

Even as Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi’s director of communications Kibisu Kabatesi acknowledged the law says only parliamentary parties have the mandate to nominate members to Eala, and that UDF is not one, Shinyalu MP Justus Kizito maintained the DPM must be consulted.

“We have a stake in nominating Eala candidates because it is by the strength of our numbers that ODM got more slots. If they don’t play ball, we will join hands with URP to block the ODM list,” he said.

Vihiga MP Yusuf Chanzu urged ODM to share the positions with the renegades. Naivasha MP John Mututho asked the coalition principles to accommodate everyone in the nominations to make the process smooth.

It is feared matters could be worse in PNU should Gichugu MP Martha Karua demand a slot for her Narc Kenya party.

EAC treaty

The 2001 treaty of establishment of EAC provides for members states – Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi – to each nominate nine members to the assembly, bringing the composition to 45 with additional seven ex-officio members who include ministers from each country responsible for regional cooperation, a Secretary General, and a counsel to the community.

The first Eala assembly, which sat in Arusha on November 29, 2001 and had Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, was dissolved in 2006. The second assembly expanded as Rwanda and Burundi joined the EAC in 2007.