KANU postpones crucial meet yet again

Posted by CATHERINE KARONGO on February 12, 2012

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Presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 12 – The Kenya African National Union (KANU) has once again postponed a crucial meeting to discuss and adopt strategies ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

In a brief statement, party Chairman Uhuru Kenyatta does not give reasons why the Special National Delegates Conference (SNDC) scheduled for Valentines Day was cancelled.

“Due to unavoidable circumstances, the Special National Delegates Conference earlier scheduled for Tuesday 14th February 2012 has been postponed to a date to be communicated later,” said Kenyatta.

But a source at the party said the move was informed by the likelihood of the country going to the polls in December and not August as envisaged in the new constitution.

“You know the meeting has to be held at least five months before an election but now we have sufficient time as the general elections will not be held in August,” the source who is not allowed to talk to the media on party matters said.

The SNDC was initially scheduled for January 30.

The meeting was set to determine which minor political parties KANU would liaise with in the forthcoming elections.

The party was also expected to ratify the amended version of its Constitution, during the delegates’ meeting, in order to ensure that it complied with the principles of the new election laws.

The SNDC was expected to align the party’s constitution with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act as well as the Political Parties Act and the Elections Act.

The delegates were also to consider whether the party should form a coalition with the PNU Alliance also referred in other quarters as Alliance Party of Kenya

Kenyatta has in the past defended his position for coalitions, saying the party needed to work with others in the new political dispensation.

Top on the agenda, was also a proposal to change the party’s name to the Kenya Alliance of National Unity to enable other parties join it.

Some of the parties set to merge with Kanu include the People’s Democratic Party, Shirikisho Party, Democratic Party and Ford People.

The National Executive Council, the party’s top decision-makers recently proposed the change of name.

Retired President Moi has vehemently opposed the plans to change the name of the country’s party of independence.

Kenyatta has however urged party branches to up recruitment of new members.

“All branch officials should ensure that membership registration continues as earlier announced,” he said.