Parties get green light to expel wandering MPs

By ISAAC ONGIRI

More than 100 MPs who have abandoned their political parties ahead of elections could be kicked out of Parliament if their parties pass resolutions to expel them.

Such a development could trigger a mini-General Election to replace the MPs. Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u now says she would not hesitate to write to the Speaker asking him to declare such seats vacant if she got expulsion letters and copies of minutes of legally developed resolutions from the mandated organs.

ODM officials with Acting Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u when they submitted registration papers. The party has the longest list of MPs who have shifted their loyalty to other outfits. [PHOTOS: FILE/STANDARD]

The move could trigger a financial crisis at the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), which is concentrating on laying grounds for the General Election expected later this year or early next year.

If affected parties act, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, Eldoret North MP William Ruto and ministers Kiraitu Murungi, Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Njeru Githae, Eugene Wamalwa, Assistant Minister Peter Kenneth, and MPs Abdikadir Mohamed (Safina) and Kiema Kilonzo of ODM-Kenya (now Wiper Democratic Movement) could be among several top guns kicked out of Parliament for associating with other political parties.

The Acting Registrar said the Eldoret North MP and several legislators supporting him who recently featured at her office to present papers for their new party, have been registered as members of ODM, and not United Republican Party (URP).

Members’ list

Ruto is considered the de facto leader of URP. Ndung’u said that a data analysis of the list presented by ODM Secretary General Anyang’ Nyong’o showed that Ruto and all his allied MPs are members of ODM. "Ruto and all the MPs, who came here told us that they had accompanied the URP officials as friends of the party.

Investigations and data analysis we have conducted now indicate he is a registered member of the ODM," the registrar told The Standard On Sunday. If the affected political parties act, Parliament could collapse as passage of motions that require three-thirds majority may beimpossible. But Ndung’u said her office will act if parties sought to implement the provisions of the political parties, warning that nobody would be favoured in the on-going implementation of the Political Party’s Act as long as party’s adhere to the law in executing the expulsions.

Automatic resignation

But even as Ndung’u insisted on political parties documenting complaints and giving minutes to her office for action, Article 17 of the Act presumes that individuals who have advocated for the formation of another political party are deemed to have automatically resigned.

Article 17 (3) prohibits individuals from belonging to more than one political parties, adding that persons who while members of another party, forms or joins in the formation of another or in anyway publicly advocates for the creation of another party are deemed to have resigned from their previous parties. The defecting MPs have been seen in various political functions clad in the colours of their current preferred parties at the expense of the party’s that sponsored them to Parliament.

Budalang’i MP Ababu Namwamba accused Ndung’u of double standards, arguing that Ruto had been expelled from the party and should not be listed as an ODM member.

"We have deleted their names from all our registers and so she should be honest enough to list them in their new party and act in the manner that she has said," Namwamba said.

He said all MPs who have indicated they are not in ODM have had their names deleted from the party register. "She has a letter from our party expelling some of those MPs. She should go ahead and notify the Speaker if she is serious in respecting the law," the MP said. The letter referred to by the Budalang’i MP communicated the expulsion of Charles Keter (Belgut) and Aden Dualle (Dujis) to the registrar late last year.

Safina leader Paul Muite said his party was just about to act on all its errant MPs and councillors but blamed the Judiciary for issuing ex parte orders on the case of Mathira MP Ephraim Maina, thus setting a precedence that would have given other offending MPs grounds to hang on.

"Safina was in the process of taking action against Maina and this has stalled. Plans to take similar action against all the other legislators and councillors have been blocked. Our prayers are that courts should act with speed so we can be allowed to discipline individuals who have no respect for parties as institutions," Muite said.

He said the snail speed at which the Judiciary was handling the Political Party’s Act related cases discourages conformity with the law.

Muite, however, noted that Parliament would continue to operate even if more than 100 MPs are expelled, adding that only constitutional amendments would be difficult to undertake as they required three quarters of MPs to be physically present in the House for debate.

Vacant seats

"If the registrar acts and the Speaker declares the seats vacant, the House will continue to operate as usual," Muite said. Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo, who has been associating with Charity Ngilu’s Narc, said though the registrar has the right to trigger the occurrence of vacancies in the parliamentary seats, her action could stall parliamentary business. "It is true I am moving to Narc, but if ODM-Kenya were to act to have me expelled, then definitely they will be implementing nothing than open dictatorship.

After all, the party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has been seen several times gravitating towards such political parties as Alliance Party of Kenya and PNU Alliance," Kiema said.

Kiema has been representing Narc in the G7 alliance talks though the party leader Charity Ngilu insists she is working with ODM. Abdikadir Mohamed, who is officially in Safina, has moved to UDF, Kiraitu Murungi has shifted to PNU Alliance and has since resigned as PNU Secretary General.

Uhuru has openly stated he is not in Kanu and his supporters are waiting for him to name a party while Mwakwere and Jirongo have jumped to URP. Assistant Minister Peter Kenneth has jumped to Keny National Congress while Mwangi Kinjuri is marketing his GNU party.