Defections galore mark the scene, alliances sprout

By Stephen Makabila

One would describe 2012 as a year of ‘defections galore’ by Members of Parliament as they tried to reposition themselves in the ‘right’ political parties ahead of the March 4 General Election.

Right from January, politicians were shifting from one party to another in search of operational space to suit their power ambitions and ensure they did not miss the political gravy train when it pulled off the station.

In so doing, some changed political parties several times, others formed new parties then abandoned their newborn political babies and went on to seek new homes with new political babies.

Others were thrown out of parties that sponsored them to Parliament because of political promiscuity. Those who shifted political parties included presidential aspirants Uhuru Kenyatta, Musalia Mudavadi, William Ruto, and Eugene Wamalwa.

Coming with defections also has been the pairing up of politicians in pre-election coalition deals, with the most unexpected having been the political marriage between Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka under the banner of Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD).

January: Ruto bolts from ODM

Eldoret North MP William Ruto who is Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential running mate in the Jubilee Coalition, called a crisis meeting to assert his authority over the UDM party after he bolted out of ODM.

Ruto had been facing rebellion from some UDM national executive committee members who were then opposed to his demand for immediate party polls. 

Come mid January and Ruto launched the United Republican Party (URP) at the Bomas of Kenya after he quit UDM over internal wrangles.  Ruto crossed over with scores of MPs allied to him in his Rift Valley backyard and from other parts of the country such as Minister Ali Chirau Mwakwere and Dujis MP Aden Duale.

February, March and April had fewer politicians moving houses, save for public disagreement on how the presidential nominations in ODM were to be done, between Raila’s camp and Mudavadi’s camp.

In Kanu, Uhuru was also battling it out over party leadership, which ended with his exit.

May: Mudavadi quits ODM

On May 2, Mudavadi quit ODM, the party that sponsored him to Parliament. He consequently resigned as Local Government minister, but said he would continue to serve as Deputy Prime Minister and announced that he would vie for president in the March 4 General Election on a United Democratic Forum (UDF) party ticket. The DPM then told the media at a breakfast meeting at a Nairobi hotel he was no one’s ‘project’ and his candidature was not meant to block Raila from succeeding President Kibaki.

On May 20, Uhuru also ended weeks of speculation about his political direction by launching his new party TNA. At a colourful launch at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi, Uhuru deployed giant state-of-art satellite screens to promote TNA as the party of the youth. 

Under the slogan ‘I believe’, he promised that TNA would incorporate the youth in its leadership, saying it was time for them to lead. Between June and August, there was little shifting in the political arena, but the exodus bug struck again in September.

September: Jirongo unveils bid

On September 9, Jirongo who was elected to Parliament on a Kaddu ticket, launched his presidential bid on a new outfit, the Federal Party of Kenya (FPK) at a colourful ceremony held at KICC and attended by several MPs. Jirongo had earlier been associated with UDM, and then formed URP with Ruto before dumping URP over differences with the Eldoret North MP.

These dizzying political acrobatics gave a new meaning to party hopping. During the same month, Sotik MP Joyce Laboso defected from ODM to URP.  Laboso had been a strong ally of Raila in the South Rift, and was part of the youthful ODM Re-loaded team.

October: Shebesh, Kilimo join TNA

October experienced defections by MPs from one party to another as the General Election contest started shaping up. This began with Mvita MP Najib Balala officially quitting ODM and launching his party, Republican Congress Party. Balala is now allied to Jubilee.

A few days later, nominated MP Rachel Shebesh and Marakwet East MP, Assistant minister Linah Jebii Kilimo officially joined Uhuru’s TNA. While Shebesh had been nominated to Parliament by ODM, Kilimo successfully defended her parliamentary seat on a Kenda ticket in the 2007 General Election.

Come October 2, Webuye MP Alfred Sambu, one of the ODM vice-chairmen resigned from the party and followed Mudavadi to UDF.

And as October ended, Information Minister Samuel Poghisio who had been an ally of Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka in Wiper Democratic Movement where he (Poghisio) had been the party national chairman, defected to URP.