Kanu walks tightrope in bid to avert deregistration

By Juma Kwayera

Factional feuding in Kanu threatens to consign the independence party to oblivion following abortive attempts to keep it active.

As the week closed, there were doubts that the party would survive de-registration, hence an emergency National Executive Council meeting on Friday that was given a wide berth by chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta’s faction.

Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat and Vice-Chairperson Gideon Moi (left) at the party’s Executive Committee meeting in Nairobi on Friday. [PHOTO: ANNE KAMONI/STANDARD]

A last minute scramble to rescue it from impending extinction was dealt a major blow following the cancellation of a NEC meeting that had originally been scheduled for Friday, as the party races against time to beat the April 30 deadline set for parties to align themselves to the new Constitution.

Although Kanu Organising Secretary Justin Muturi told The Standard On Sunday that the postponement was occasioned by some housekeeping issues, Secretary General Nick Salat, in a notice for an emergency NEC, expressed fears the party was on a deathbed, hence the need for an urgent meeting to resuscitate it.

Muturi dismissed the Friday emergency meeting, which resolved to convene a national delegates meeting within two weeks to thrash out outstanding issues before eventual registration, as irregular and inconsequential to Uhuru’s status as chairman.

Special conference

"Following numerous postponements for the Special National Delegates Conference, the party is facing deregistration should it fail to meet the deadline for compliance for political parties within the remaining time as stipulated by the law," Salat warned. Asked about the status of the party and the risk of deregistration, Muturi replied: "We are still trying to comply and make a decision on the way forward."

By the end the week, there were indications that Uhuru, who through a newspaper advertisement two weeks ago had convened a NEC meeting for March 30 to finalise compliance with the law, was no longer keen on the party. On Wednesday, he called off the meeting indefinitely.

The postponement came on the back of a resolution by Gema communities, which endorsed Uhuru to run for president, to give the Mt Kenya ethnic groups direction on the vehicle he wishes to ride on to State House. Uhuru promised to respond within a month.

The obvious discordance in the once vibrant outfit with the widest national reach earned the wrath of its former chairman, former President Daniel Moi, who blamed the dormancy on inept leadership.

Since the International Criminal Court indicted him for crimes against unity during post-election violence, Uhuru has tended to shun his party to the point where there have been calls for him to resign to concentrate on his defence at The Hague.

However, an Uhuru confidant, David Murathe, in guarded response to questions about whether the party chairman had jumped ship, attributed the doldrums to which the party had sunk to "micromanagement by the old guard".

Murathe, a former Gatanga MP, left no doubt his party boss would be moving on.

"It is difficult to sell Kanu in central Kenya. Those complaining know Uhuru is ‘injured’. They should have therefore taken up the mantle and popularised the party the way Raila did in 2002 when Narc presidential candidate Mwai Kibaki was injured in a car accident."

Presidential ambitions

The Kanu chairman faces criminal charges at the ICC that will cut short his presidential ambitions that had began to look realistic after he fluffed in 2002 and 2007.

The Political Parties Act provides: "Where a political party that has been deregistered under section 21 had representatives elected to Parliament or county assembly, such representatives shall continue to serve for the remainder of their term as independents or as members of other political parties."

The law says further that "where the deregistration of a political party is occasioned by a wilful act or wilful omission of a person who is a member of Parliament or of a county assembly, that person shall cease to be a member of Parliament or of the county assembly."

Uhuru’s perceived apathy to Kanu, which he inherited from Moi, is a contradiction of a speech he gave during a retreat in Naivasha town in December.

At the meeting, the DPM committed himself to retaining the party that had been dormant since 2005, when he took the mantle of leadership of the party his father Jomo Kenyatta rode to ascend to power at independence in 1963. At the time he ran for presidency in 2002 against Kibaki, Kanu had a national presence.

"I don’t think we will comply with the provisions of the new Constitution and the new Political Parties Act unless we have a strong and formidable party. We are not closing our minds to anything, but we do believe whomever we talk to or agree to work with; that must be from a position of strength. That strength can only come after we revitalise, reenergise our party at the grassroots levels," the Kanu chair said.

He went on to take a swipe at doubters who had written off the party during the meeting – the first ever in nearly eight years.

Further: "For those of you who thought Kanu was dead, you are in for a big surprise. Those of you who had inclinations that we are at each other’s throats poleni sana (I sympathise with you), for those of you who thought we did not have a clear vision for this country poleni sana... For those of you who are desirous of seeing new and dedicated leadership, please join us to build a new Kenya."

Party of independence on the brink of oblivion

When Kanu changed its constitution in the run-up to the 2005 party elections that vested all powers in the chairman, it inadvertently set itself on the path to extinction.

As other parties go about the business of complying with the Political Parties Act ahead of the April 30 deadline, Kanu is struggling to avoid de-registration.

At the last National Delegates Conference at Kasarani Sports complex, Nairobi, in 2005, former president Moi handed over the mantle to Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, who had lost 2002 presidential election to Narc’s Mwai Kibaki.

Kanu’s 2002 resounding defeat converted into the Official Opposition party in Parliament. The poll loss marked the beginning of the party’s descent into oblivion. The party did not meet until last December, when some NEC members gathered in Naivasha to work out modalities of reviving it.

In its manifesto, the party pitches for promotion of "participatory, accountable and transparent governance that seeks to harness our political, social, economic and ethnic diversity to ensure sound political and economic governance founded on the rule of law, respect for humans rights and equitable distribution of national resources through consistent and predictable public policy."

Key timelines in Kanu’s history:

lThe Kenya African National Union (Kanu) ruled Kenya for 39 years since independence from Britain in 1963.

lIt was founded as Kenya African Union before being renamed in 1960. It was led by Jomo Kenyatta, from 1947 and later merged with Kenya Independent Movement and People Congress Party to become Kanu.

lOn December 18, last year, the party NEC approved a change of party name to Kenya Alliance for National Unity at a conference in in Naivasha.

lIn 1982, after Parliament amended the Constitution that made Kenya officially a single party state, Kanu was the ruling party under President Moi, who succeeded Kenyatta in 1978.

lIn December 1991, Parliament repealed the one-party section of the Constitution, paving the way for new parties. Kanu won the first multiparty elections in December 1992, under Moi, who was re-elected in 1997 for another five-year term.

lOn March 18, 2002, Kanu led by Moi merged with Raila Odinga’s National Development Party. In October the same year Raila led a walkout of the party, with senior officials that included then Vice-President George Saitoti, and Kalonzo Musyoka, who presidencial aspirants.

lIn 2007 Kanu entered coalition partnership with PNU to campaign for Kibaki re-election. Ever since, its fortunes have been on a steep decline. It lacks a countrywide presence it used to enjoy under President Moi.