Party of National Unity (PNU) reinstated as registrar removes it from list of Jubilee affiliates

Governor Peter Munya. Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u finally swallowed humble pie and granted Party of National Unity (PNU) a new lease of life yesterday. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u finally swallowed humble pie and granted Party of National Unity (PNU) a new lease of life yesterday.

In a notice published in the Kenya Gazette, Ms Ndung’u officially expunged PNU from a list of parties which dissolved into Jubilee Party.

The move comes exactly 10 days after the Political Parties Tribunal ordered her to publish a fresh notification within 14 days restoring PNU back to life. The tribunal also declared Ndung’u’s original notice dissolving PNU null and void. zThe tribunal’s decision on Tuesday last week was followed by PNU’s National Delegates Conference (NDC) held at Bomas of Kenya during which Meru Governor Peter Munya was elected the leader of the party.

Yesterday, Jubilee Party that supposedly swallowed PNU was at Bomas of Kenya for its first National Governing Council (NGC) meeting.

“Pursuant to the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal Judgment on Appeal No 5 of 2016, the Registrar of Political Parties gives notice that PNU is expunged from the list of parties that dissolved into Jubilee Party of Kenya,” the notice in yesterday’s gazette said.

Bad faith

In their decision, tribunal members - Kyalo Mbobu (chairman), James Atema and Paul Ngotho said Ndung’u did not act in good faith when she published the initial Gazette Notice dissolving PNU. They found out that she dissolved the party a day before party organs purportedly made the decision to dissolve.

They also found out the registrar ignored an ongoing dispute resolution involving the party, deceived sections of party leadership and failed to detect that the main driver of the dissolution was in fact an impostor official of the party.

“The registrar acted dishonestly and in contempt of court. We must condemn such conduct coming from a public official in strongest terms possible.”

“We expected a lot more caution from the Registrar, especially given that she was dealing with a matter as serious as the dissolution of a political party,” the tribunal said.

Yesterday, Ndung’u also gave notice of two political parties seeking full and provisional registration. Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is seeking full membership. Its party symbol is a satellite dish and green, blue and white are its colours.