Ford parties now free to join Jubilee

 

New Ford Kenya and Ford People are now free to join the new Jubilee outfit after a bid by some dissatisfied members to halt it was thwarted.

In a ruling Wednesday, the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal rejected a case filed by New Ford Kenya on grounds that it lacked merits to warrant orders stopping the merger scheduled for September 10.

In their finding, the tribunal chaired by Kyalo Mbobu and members James Atema and Paul Ngotho ruled that the disgruntled members had not fully utilised internal disputes party mechanism in addressing their grievances.

The tribunal directed David Baraza and Peter Nabikhuli to make use of the party's internal mechanism and if aggrieved by its decision, to file a suit before the tribunal.

Baraza and Nabikhuli had moved to the tribunal seeking to halt the planned merger on grounds that they and other party members had not been consulted while reaching the decision to fold up and merge with Jubilee Party.

"The applicants failed to meet the threshold of Section 40(2) of the Political Parties Dispute Act before filing the case," the tribunal ruled.

Similarly, the tribunal rejected another suit filed by Ford-P member Jerry Kenyansa.