MPs put thorns on road to 2012 polls

Updated 2 hr(s) 49 min(s) ago

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By MARTIN MUTUA and BEAUTTAH OMANGA

Parliament has placed another thorn on the road to next year’s elections by failing to initiate the appointment of a newRegistrar of Political Parties.

A selection committee to recruit the Registrar as outlined in the Constitution was to have been in place by November 15, but three weeks later Parliament has not played its part.

The new holder of the office would ensure political parties meet the new strident rules and timelines set out in the Political Parties Act and the new Constitution.

Nakuru ODM members choose their officials last week. New registrar will be required to streamline political parties according to recent regulations. [PHOTO: BONIFACE THUKU/STANDARD]

According to the Political Parties Act, there are various timelines drawn up for all parties to comply with before participating in the next year’s elections. Political parties are, for example, supposed to undertake fresh membership recruitment drives and have no fewer than a thousand members in at least half of Kenya’s 47 counties.

Parties are also required to have branch offices in more than half of the counties. This requirement also demands that parties conform their structures to county structures rather than districts, as they currently are constituted. All parties must revise the composition of their governing body and hold fresh elections in line with the new Constitution.

Also expected of the parties is revision of nomination rules, which they must undertake to cater for the new nominations to take place before the next year’s elections.

All parties must present the rules to the Registrar and Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) at least six months before nominating candidates to general election. Their nomination rules must be submitted to the Commission latest six months before any nominations.

Complaint letter

Parties are also supposed to establish or revise their internal disputes and conflict resolution mechanisms and maintain records at the head office and each of their county offices. At every stage in moving towards this direction, the Registrar will play the leading role in ensuring all parties meet the new requirements to participate in a general election.

Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo told The Standard in an interview that all the political parties have 180 days to comply with the Political Parties Act from November 1 when the Act became operational.

To show the gravity of the problem at hand, Mutula has written to Speaker of the National Assembly Kenneth Marende lamenting how the provisions of the law had been violated.

Mutula revealed he was aware the nominating bodies submitted the names to Parliament early this month, but to date the House has not considered those names.

"It seems, therefore, that even the approval of names by the National Assembly will fall well after the November 15 deadline, and hence the President will not be in a position to appoint the selection committee within the prescribed time," he adds in the letter.

The letter is copied to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga through the Head of the Civil Service Mr Francis Muthaura and the Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s office Dr Mohamed Isahakia.

According to Mutula, the only way out of the crisis is to amend the Political Parties Act 2011, which was recently passed by Parliament, and have the Bill fast-tracked in order to conform to the law.

"As you may well know, I appointed the commencement date for the Political Parties Act as November 1, 2011. A copy of the legal notice appointing the commencement date is attached for ease of reference," adds Mutula in his letter.

The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Implementation of the Constitution (CIOC) Mr Abdikadir Mohammed says that whereas the Executive delayed in submitting the names of the new Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Anti-Graft officials, Parliament has compounded the problem by not dealing with the issue of the new Registrar of Political Parties in time

Abdikadir told The Standard that the inter-party wrangling that paralysed Justice and Legal Affairs Committee stalled the process.

"It is true we are out of time for the two processes and the only way is to purge the contempt by ensuring the House does what it was supposed to do and then deal with the rest of the issues afterwards," he added.

He said advertisements for both the anti-graft officials and those of nominees for selection committee to pick the Registrar of Political Parties were supposed to be out by Thursday, but only the ones on the nominees of the new anti-graft body were published on that day.

Abdikadir explained that the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee was to vet the names and table its report before the House on Wednesday, as directed by the acting deputy speaker Mr Gitobu Imanyara on Thursday.

"Whereas this might be a bit challenging, I hope we shall be able to meet that deadline," added Abdikadir.

Law amendment

Safina leader Paul Muite said the minister’s last minute move to seek to amend the Act was sufficient proof more amendments would be sought with time.

"That move goes to prove that even if the election date is moved to December as desired by someleaders, they will still dilly-dally with Bills they should enacted until the eleventh hour," argued Muite.

Sunday, Imanyara argued that instead of seeking to amend the Act, the minister should seek extension of the period since it was permitted by the Constitution.

"What the minister ought to do is not amend the Act as it is, but seek to extend the time that has been lost to create room for meeting the shortfall," argued Imanyara.

Mutula in his letter pointed out that parties are expected to have revised their constitutions to comply with the new laws, including their mode of nominations and elections, which will require them to comply with the gender parity rule of one-third of elected members being women, among others.

Mutula suggests the only way out of the crisis is to have Section 35 of the Political Parties Act amended to allow for an extension of the period prescribed.