Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Rebel ODM MPs find new party



By Standard Team

Mr William Ruto and MPs allied to him have found a party to decamp to and set the stage for their resignation or expulsion from the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
It is a strategy that could either condemn them to political oblivion, or rejuvenate Ruto’s presidential campaign.
Eldoret North MP William Ruto after a meeting with legislators allied to United Democratic Movement party in Nairobi on Tuesday. [Photo: Mbugua Kibera/Standard]
Ruto’s new outfit, the United Republican Party, was just registered recently and is unknown even in his backyard of Eldoret North.
The former minister and his supporters who are still technically members of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) plan to announce their move tomorrow. And it comes fresh on the heels Ruto’s disastrous attempt to take over another party, the United Democratic Movement (UDM). Section 17 and sub-sections (3) and (4) prohibit members of a party from joining, forming or helping to form another party while still a member of a different party.
It also bars them from publicly advocating for the formation of another political party before resigning from their party. The exception is only in regard to a party that is a corporate member of another party.
In the past, Ruto and his team had argued that attempts to expel them for supporting UDM breached Section 17 of the Act, as it was a corporate member of ODM. This is clearly not the case anymore.
Three scenarios now prevail.
Ruto and his rebel ODM MPs can resign en masse from ODM and forfeit their Parliamentary seats. Secondly, ODM can expel them; in both cases, this would trigger by-elections in their constituencies.
Political career
Third, ODM can refuse to expel the rebels, forcing them to either resign or remain in limbo.
Speed was of the essence as Ruto and his allies needed to identify a party ahead of a High Court ruling due on Friday on the correct date for this year’s General Election.
Well-placed sources told The Standard that a close ally of the Eldoret North legislator registered the new party, and that the Eldoret North MP hopes it can copycat the exploits of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) campaign that revived his flagging political career five years ago.
It is a major gamble that could easily backfire. ODM was formed on the embers of the fight for a new Constitution that captured the imagination of many voters. URP, on the other hand, will have to begin from scratch to convince voters, including those in Rift Valley, that his party can deliver his vision.
Ruto will have to move quickly to popularize the party and sell it as an alternative to existing outfits, but his alliance is dominated by well-known faces, including sitting and former MPs and Cabinet ministers.
The protracted leadership tussle in UDM has also dented Ruto’s claim to having a stranglehold on the Kalenjin vote in the Rift Valley, after he failed to take over the party.
Interestingly, a former colleague of Ruto’s during his days in the defunct Youth for Kanu ’92, Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo, is in Ruto’s line-up as is another YK operative, Patrick Osero.
Over 25 MPs attended a meeting on Wednesday where the resolution to ditch UDM and join URP was made following a three-day consultative meeting that resumes this morning in Nairobi.
Before election
Instructively, the meeting was also attended by the interim UDM chairman Joseph Chirchir who, however, left before the resolutions were given. Before Wednesday’s deal, the MPs had toyed with the idea of joining the United Democratic Association (UDA), United Revolution Movement (URM), Peoples Democratic Party and Shirikisho, the party associated with Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere.
The Elections Act says a political party shall submit its nomination rules to IEBC at least six months before the nomination of its candidates for elections.
This explains the urgency behind the Ruto group’s efforts to find a new party, as the countdown will begin as soon as the High Court settles the question of the correct date for the General Election.
Mr Nixon Korir, a close ally of the Eldoret North MP, is listed as the chairman of URP. The party’s colours as seen by The Standard on Wednesday evening are Yellow, Black and Red, while its symbol is a trumpet (kigondit in Kalenjin).
The party will be unveiled on Sunday at Nairobi’s Bomas of Kenya where about 50 MPs are expected to attend alongside supporters from various parts of the country.
"After the launch, the MPs and party leaders will hit the ground running with 39 political rallies expected to be held under two months across the country to popularise it at the grassroots level," a source told The Standard. The rallies will be conducted alongside members recruitment drive before an election is called towards the end of February.
This morning, the former UDM offices at Lavington will be repainted in URP logo and colours to serve as its headquarters. It will be preceded by the resignation and decamping of 25 UDM National Executive Council (NEC) members led by Chirchir, Deputy Secretary General in charge of administration Mr Philip Rotino, who is a former Sigor MP, and Organising Secretary Mr Joseph Lagat, also a former MP.
Tender resignations
Mr Kibet Komen, UDM’s Secretary for Youth Affairs, Mr Jacob Machacha Majembe (Nairobi representative) confirmed to The Standard on telephone that they would tender their resignations this morning.
"Hii ni masaa ya kuhama (It is time to move). We will hand in our resignation to UDM and Registrar of Political Parties as we head to a new political party which will be announced later," Komen said.

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