Is there a rebellion afoot in both Jubilee and NASA?

Growing opposition by the electorate against calls for a six-piece voting pattern should be a wake-up call for all political parties.

The bungled party primaries witnessed in several parts of the country have brought about a new political phenomenon, which must be dealt with if any party leadership plans to survive. Either this or the 2022 General Election might see a bigger rebellion.

Cases in point are Nyanza, Rift Valley and Central Kenya where dominant parties have always had their way with choosing candidates. Some 25 years since the introduction of pluralism in the country, both ODM and Jubilee are facing an acid test posed by independent candidates who, prior to the party primaries, were ardent followers of the two parties.

The enactment of the election law late last year prohibiting party hopping, which was passed through a bipartisan approach, only succeeded in providing fodder for the rise of independents. For the first time in Luo Nyanza, a sustained chorus against six-piece vote pattern in favour of ODM has erupted.

A good number of ODM leaders in Siaya, Migori, Homa Bay and Kisumu have defied the party and are openly supporting some independent candidates.

Recently, Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago, Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi and Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter threatened to mobilise their electorate against Jubilee if Deputy President William Ruto did not stop his alleged support for Ezekiel Bundotich Kiprop alias Buzeki, whose candidature as an independent gubernatorial candidate against Mandago is causing ripples in that county.

The Deputy President bit the bullet and appealed to Buzeki to drop his candidature in favour of Mr Mandago, which Bundotich has refused to do. The emergence of independent candidates, which is currently causing both Jubilee and ODM a headache, might turn out to be a revolution against party dictatorship, which has been practised since emergence of multi-partyism in 1992.

The era when the rich and powerful used their party’s strength in given areas to secure elective positions riding on euphoria either for or against certain presidential candidates or political divide is coming to an end. Samuel Owida, Kisumu.