Panic grips parties

By VITALIS KIMUTAI

Finger-pointing and counter-accusations are threatening to rip political parties apart as they race to beat the April 30 registration deadline.

The 44 parties — out of the registered 47 — hit the panic button as days flew by, yet they have either not submitted their applications to meet the new legal requirements or have but not heard from the Registrar of Political Parties.

Among the parties that now risk facing the chop are Grand Coalition Government partners Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party and the Party of National Unity (PNU).

For ODM, the party that sponsored Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the last General Election, a simmering feud over rules for nomination of party presidential flagbearer further complicates matters.

Deputy Party Leader Musalia Mudavadi, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, has been fighting to challenge Raila for the party’s ticket to run for presidency come the elections.

On Thursday, an MP close to Mudavadi claimed that there was a scheme in the party to present its old constitution for registration to comply with requirements of the Political Parties Act, whose deadline is April 30, 2012.

What this means, he said, is that the party’s grassroots elections would be futile as new officials are not recognised in the old constitution, hence the Registrar would likewise not recognise them.

Mudavadi has demanded that the ODM Constitution be changed to remove the automatic candidature of the Party Leader as presidential candidate.

Another pro-Mudavadi MP said the party must move with speed to change the constitution because a National Delegates Conference to ratify the amendments must be convened in two weeks.

Several political parties have resorted to unorthodox means to recruit members in a bid to beat the April 30 deadline for registration.

Only three parties have met the requirements of the new law, with Ms Martha Karua’s Narc Kenya being the trailblazer.

National Vision Party led by former Cabinet Minister Nicholas Biwott and Grand National Unity Party led by Energy Assistant Minister Mwangi Kiunjuri also got a clean bill of health.

Parties yet to submit compliance documents are ODM, Kanu, United Republican Party (URP) and United Democratic Movement (UDM).

Most parties have been caught up in a fight over their membership lists after it emerged that there were rampant cases of double registration.

Some parties are alleged to have used mobile phone money transfer registers — which have full names and national Identity Card numbers of clients — to shore up their registers.

ODM Secretary-General Anyang’ Nyong’o said the issue was so serious that some of the party’s MPs had been recruited into other parties and the list submitted to the Registrar of Political Parties without their knowledge.

"We have come to the sad realisation that some political parties have adopted unconventional methods of recruiting members in a bid to meet the demands for registering 1,000 supporters in not less than 24 counties," said Nyong’o.

This, he added, had erected roadblocks for the party in its compliance process but to that the deadline would be met.

Parties are also said to be using voter registers, especially those used during the constitutional referendum by the defunct Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC). We could, however, not independently verify the claims.

Still, others are said to have literally been offering cash to members of the public willing to be recruited as members at county level.

Ms Lucy Ndung’u, the Registrar of Political Parties, has admitted that the major challenge facing most parties was that of members recruited by their competitors.

"It is true, some parties have been accused of using money transfer transaction details to register members. But no evidence has been tabled and even those who have gone public are not willing to record statements or assist in investigations," said Ndung’u.

"In Kaiti Constituency, we were told people were being induced to register as members but when we sent in the police and intelligence officers, no one was willing to provide details and those who had been claimed to be involved proved that they were holding a meeting for a different purpose altogether," she added.

Ndung’u said it appeared that leaders of various parties were not aware of the import of the new laws, with some pushing for mergers and coalitions even before being individually registered.

"The individual parties must first meet the legal requirements before embarking on coalition and merger talks," she said.

Some voters, she added, were not aware that they were not supposed to be members of more than one political party.

Ndung’u said her officers were on the ground seeking to confirm that political parties had offices in the counties as claimed.

A politician, Mr Kibet Komen, decried commercialisation of the member recruitment drives.

"The registration has become a cash-cow for some voters who have been camping in shopping centres waiting to be paid to register as members of some parties. If the law is strictly followed, they will be arrested for multiple registration," he said.

The United Republican Party (URP) is the only party that has fully embraced the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in registering members.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Democratic Movement (WDM), Planning Assistant Minister Peter Kenneth’s Kenya National Congress (KNC) and Internal Security Minister Prof George Saitoti’s Party of National Unity (PNU) have submitted documents for registration.

Party of Action (POA) led by former Cabinet Minister Raphael Tuju, Labour Party of Kenya led by Dr Julia Ojiambo, Democratic Party of Kenya (DP), Mazingira, United Democratic Front Party (UDFP), National Democratic Movement (NDM) and Restore and Build Kenya have also sought registration.

The Registrar publishes the party name, symbol and colours in the Kenya Gazzette and puts up advertisements in two main daily newspapers once to invite individuals or parties with objections to raise them.