Not so fast... Ford People and Jubilee merger dealt a blow

The Political Parties Dispute tribunal has stopped planned dissolution of Ford People party. The development is a setback for the party's quest to merge with Jubilee Party, which President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto will use to contest reelection.

The party was restrained from either convening any meeting to discuss the planned merger or dissolution pending hearing and determination of a suit.

In a suit filed by a party member, Jerry Kenyansa, the tribunal chaired by Kyalo Mbobu and members James Atema and Paul Ngotho was told that the planned dissolution was against the wishes of other party members.

"That a temporary injunction does hereby issued stopping the meeting of September 8 that intends to merge Ford People party to Jubilee Party," the tribunal ruled.

In an application certified urgent by the tribunal, Kenyansa also sought to bar Ken Nyaundi from acting as chairperson of Ford People pending hearing of the case.

The aggrieved member further asked the PPDT to bar the chairman from handing in a notice to the Registrar of Political Parties over the impending dissolution but his request was denied.

Instead, the tribunal directed Kenyansa to serve the respondent the documents and return to court on September 5 when the case will be heard.

Mr Nyaundi is said to have attended a meeting in State House where the party agreed to join JP. He, however, supports the idea of remaining independent.

At the moment, more than 10 parties have given an indication their intention to merge and they have written to the Registrar of Political Parties, stating their decision to disband and join the Jubilee Party.

A meeting by Ford People delegates is scheduled for September 8 to back the planned merger a day before the Jubilee Party convention which will be held on September 9 and 10.