Mudavadi outfoxed

By JUMA KWAYERA

Musalia Mudavadi’s battle for a fair shot at his party’s presidential ticket may not be over, notwithstanding reports of a victory earlier this week.

Despite claims of a deal following a National Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, his allies now say those behind Prime Minister Raila Odinga have no intention of keeping their end of the bargain. They say the NEC meeting was deliberately put off until just before the party registration deadline so that few of its resolutions could be acted upon in time.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his deputy Musalia Mudavadi at a past function: ODM plans to present the old constitution for registration and this could lock out Mudavadi. [PHOTO: FILE/ STANDARD]

ODM, they say, has applied for registration with an unchanged constitution and election rules that make it harder for Mudavadi to dislodge the man at the helm. The party will use similar tactics to frustrate the DPM’s leadership challenge. Gwasi MP, John Mbadi admits the rush to beat the April 30 deadline means the party will be registered with the old papers. He adds, however, that changes to reflect devolution and the Constitution will be made later.

"Changes can be included at a later stage when the party is already registered," he says. "There should be no problem."

Asked to explain how the partywould navigate the NEC resolutions and the political party compliance deadline, Chief Whip Jakoyo Midiwo would only say the application was filed "under the current constitution".

"The party has a constitution that we are using to file for registration," he said, declining to comment on whether this contradicted the NEC resolutions.

Information Assistant Minister George Khaniri (Hamisi) says ODM should amend its constitution first and then file for registration.

"We still have time. Why the rush?" he asked. "We are willing to support a presidential candidate who is properly nominated. Why file the application for compliance and send changes later? We read mischief in the process."

This emerged even as Raila and Mudavadi held their first joint campaign Friday in Kisumu and dismissed talk of divisions over internal democracy (See separate story page 6). Speaking to hundreds of ODM delegates, the two pledged to remain united even as their rivals schemed to pull them apart. Raila criticised his rivals’ obsession with his party’s affairs, saying their parties had more serious flaws.

"Some of (ODM’s rivals) speak as if they were saints yet their own parties have incessant squabbles that are even worse than ODM’s," said Raila. "We won’t allow other people to limit and define our cause."

Mudavadi, however, kept his gaze inwards, urging party delegates not to be moved by political euphoria as they determined who should lead the party into the next General Election. He also reproached party members whose provocative statements, he said, were scaring others away from the party.

"People must ride the wave of change or else they will find themselves beneath it," the party’s deputy leader warned. "ODM must adjust to come to terms with the realities of the new Constitution."

Mudavadi and his allies want party constitution changed to drop a clause that makes the party leader, Raila Odinga, the automatic presidential candidate.

Apparent bias

They also want changes to the party’s election rules that make the process for nominating its presidential candidate more democratic. Concerns have also been raised about the use of the date of a planned National Delegates’ Council as a ‘secret weapon’, as well as apparent bias in the ODM Secretariat and National Elections Board.

ODM Elections Board Secretary John Misoi recently said the NDC was likely to be held mid this month. Mudavadi’s allies, however, say the meeting is likely to be put off for months.

Following the NEC meeting on Wednesday, ODM Secretary General Anyang’ Nyong’o announced that the contentious clause on an automatic presidential candidate would be dropped.

The party’s legal committee, he said, would look at the matter and report back to the NEC with changes to be put before the National Governing Council for ratification. The NEC’s formal agenda, however, ignored the constitution issue and instead focussed on election rules and meeting the requirements of the Political Parties Act.

Sources close to the DPM claim Raila and Nyong’o directed party Chief Executive Officer Janet Ong’era to apply for full registration under the old constitution with the contentious clauses still intact. Neither Ongera nor Nyong’o responded to queries from The Standard On Saturday on this matter.

A source at the party headquarters, however, claimed she had initially declined to apply for a compliance certificate arguing ODM should wait until a National Delegates Convention had ratified the resolutions of the NEC meeting.

Mbadi says the decision to file for registration before making the changes agreed at the NEC was precipitated by the April 30 deadline.

"We all agree nomination rules must be changed to reflect the requirements of the new (national) Constitution," the Gwasi MP says. "As it is, our constitution does not provide for rules on the nomination of candidates for county governor or senator in the devolved system. However, the changes can be included at a later stage when the party is already registered. There should be no problem."

Nomination timetable

Agreement was reached on expanding the number of delegates who will settle the leadership contest between Raila and Mudavadi, with plans to have 58 delegates from each civic ward. While this compromise improves Mudavadi’s position, some in his team are grumbling about the nomination timetable proposed for the exercise.

They say they fear the party’s internal presidential election will be needlessly delayed until September to limit the Sabatia MP’s options should he be unhappy with the process or the outcome. Mudavadi’s allies are pinning their hopes on an NDC, which will ratify the amendments to hold nominations at county level, as well as open up competition for the party leadership.

There is no agreement on when the NDC should be held, however, with Mudavadi allies seeking a date before June, while some Raila allies root for September, assuming March 14, 2013, remains the Election Day. The issues continue to test the party’s unity even as its top leaders present a united front.

Despite Mudavadi’s pledge he will remain in the party if he loses to Raila in the nominations, he has also threatened unspecified "consequences" if the contest is not free and fair. "We must avoid reckless handling of the processes or be ready to face the consequences that follow if the processes are mismanaged," he has said.

– Additional reporting by Kepher Otieno