Squabbles in the United Democratic Front (UDF) party have intensified, with a faction dismissing the move by rivals to change its name to Amani National Congress (ANC).
UDF chairman Hassan Osman said the party belonged to the people who formed it and its supporters, and nobody should purport to rebrand without consulting members.
Mr Hassan, who was recently reinstated to the party by the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal (PPDT), said supporters and members of the party should wait for the final verdict by the PPDT on November 17 before they forged ahead.
"The party is one and at no time have we changed the name. We are a loving party but if there are some members who feel otherwise, this is a democratic country and they are free to do what they want," said the nominated MP.
Hassan maintained that on Friday, PPDT ruled that none of the factions should purport to call for the National Delegates Conference, the highest organ in the party that ratifies resolutions brought by the National Executive Council (NEC).
Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale questioned why there were some members of the party out to discipline him when he fiercely campaigned for former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi.
"You should ask those UDF members why they want to discipline me. I will not talk much about it because they have their reasons," said Dr Khalwale in a phone interview.
UDF Secretary General Justus Kizito insisted that Hassan's removal was on disciplinary grounds, not political. Mr Kizito said UDF was a single party and rebranding it to ANC would bring freshness to the party and its supporters countrywide.
"We want everybody in this party. The ouster of Hassan, Khalwale and the rest was arrived at by NEC and was based on discipline, not politics. We want to make the party strong ahead of the 2017 General Election," said Mr Mudavadi.
Kizito said the need for change arose from a study that showed UDF's fortunes were waning even in its strongholds due to inactivity by some party organs.
UDF activist Duncun Angode said they left the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to help build UDF and accused some politicians of being behind the friction that has marred the party in recent days.
"There are some politicians who campaigned day and night for us to decamp from the Orange party. But they are the same people who have gone back. Does it mean they wanted us out so they could go in?" said Mr Angode.
Lugari MP Ayub Savula said they were working on an exit plan from UDF to Amani National Congress despite the squabbles.
The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
join