Githae’s stand on by-elections is untenable
By KWENDO OPANGA
Posted Saturday, May 19 2012 at 16:59
Posted Saturday, May 19 2012 at 16:59
The law of the land is absolutely and abundantly clear. If you quit the party that sponsored you to Parliament; the party on whose ticket you were elected, then you have to seek a fresh mandate from the electorate.
Put simply, defectors are required by law to fight by-elections sponsored by their new parties.
And the law is also clear about something else. It defines defection and to ensure there is no ambiguity on this matter, defection is not limited to the physical act of decamping or the declaration of switch of camps. One who, by one’s deeds and words, goes against one’s sponsoring party is a defector.
By this definition MPs William Ruto, Joshua Kutuny, Adan Duale and Najib Balala, for example, ceased to belong to the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) from 2009.
It was at this time they began to harass and harangue party leader and Prime Minister Raila Odinga over everything and anything from the water towers of the Mau Forest to the upcoming trials in The Hague.
The trouble with ODM and Mr Odinga is that they have not had the political will or bottle for political battle with the MPs and their supporters.
Mr Odinga moved to sack Mr Ruto and, belatedly Mr Balala, from the Cabinet, but could not back up this move with the bolder step of forcing them into by-elections.
Mr Ruto, Mr Kutuny, Mr Duale and Mr Balala, on the other hand, have not had the courage of their convictions to go the whole hog and seek fresh mandates from their electorate.
It is a risky affair in which one could lose one’s seat and, therefore, inflict serious damage to one’s credibility. The result has been party polygamy and adultery.
The polygamy and the adultery are illegal, politically immoral and, yet again, expose the bankruptcy of Kenya’s parties and politicians.
One, even if the policies and values of any two parties were to be the same, it would be illegal to belong to both of them. Two, politicians and parties must stand for something, but ours only want to respectively stand and run candidates in elections.
This applies to all the parties and the politicians. Conveniently, they have argued that the reason they have not taken action against defectors is that the law does not specify who should trigger action against defectors.
Triggering action
I say nonsense. It is the party leadership that should take the lead in triggering action against defectors.
Therefore, the action by so-called Friends of Raila (FORA) who have moved to court with the prayer that it declares 100 seats of defecting MPs is long overdue.
If parties are condoning this infidelity; if the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) pleads impotence; if Parliament is complicit in this conspiracy, FORA is justified to force action through the courts.
FORA’s court action has, of course, been brought about by the defection of Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi.
Indeed, Mr Mudavadi may be the main, if not sole, target of the action as he is a potential wrecker of Mr Odinga’s homestretch sprint to State House. Don’t believe the ODM high command when it calls his defection inconsequential.
Having said that the law is clear on defections, may I also say that it is highly likely that the court will declare the 100 seats vacant and trigger by-elections.
But that is where Mr Robinson Njeru Githae wads into the controversy with a patently unpalatable declaration. The minister for Finance says if the court orders by-elections they will not be held because there is no money.
That is saying stuff the law! He is saying stuff the electorate! The business of Parliament is to make laws, represent Kenyans and keep government in check.
This business cannot be carried out effectively when the House lacks 100 of its 210 elected MPs. Second, each of Kenya’s 210 constituencies must be represented in the House on any given day.
It is incomprehensible and reprehensible that Mr Githae would contemplate a scenario where 100 constituencies are not represented when laws affecting them are passed.
Mr Githae cannot shrink or distort Kenya’s constituency map and, therefore, composition of Kenya’s Parliament. He cannot hand over the making of Kenya’s laws or discussion of its burning issues to a select few.
And, Mr Githae does not have the mandate to derail the ambitions of some Kenyans for elective office or disenfranchise millions. Listen, Bwana Waziri.
If the court declares those 100 seats vacant, you must find the money to fund those by-elections. Don’t rat on us!
Kwendo Opanga is a media consultant opanga@diplomateastafrica.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment