Plot to kick out over 100 rebel Jubilee leaders
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party has initiated a process to kick out over 100 rebel lawmakers who have defected to Deputy President William Ruto’s UDA party before the expiry of their terms in Parliament.
Yesterday, officials at the Pangani-based party were preparing a list of senators and National Assembly members elected on a Jubilee Party ticket, with intentions of writing to Speakers of both Houses demanding to have all of them sent home.
The ruling party’s Vice Chairman, David Murathe, said they will rely on Section 14A and 14B of the Political Parties Act on membership resignation, court advisories and Article 103 of the Constitution.
These are explicit that MPs automatically lose their elective positions if they stop being members of the political parties that sponsored them during the elections, by either resigning or being expelled.
According to Murathe, the party was preparing a list of those who have sent their resignation letters to them, and after counter-checking with the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.
On confirming their status, they will write to clerks of the respective Houses asking them to invoke Article 103 of the Constitution on vacation of office of an MP and have the positions declared vacant.
“The law is very clear that a seat becomes vacant the moment the holder switches political parties. Most of these MPs want to defend their seats on UDA tickets. For that to happen, they will be required to resign from our party,” said Murathe.
“We have elected members who have resigned from our party and have done it through writing. What we (Jubilee) are doing now (yesterday) is that we are synchronizing the list with that of the Registrar of Political Parties and once we get the list of those who have quit — because they are supposed to notify the Registrar of Political Parties of their resignation — we will write to the Houses and they will have no option but to declare the positions vacant,” Murathe told ‘People Daily’.
Should the move succeed, the affected MPs will lose salaries and allowances for the remaining months to August. Those who have pending loans will be required to seek alternative ways of clearing them.
Murathe says they will be guided by Article 103 of the Constitution, which says: “The office of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant if, having been elected to Parliament as a member of a political party, the member resigns from that party or is deemed to have resigned from the party as determined in accordance with the legislation contemplated; the member may be expelled as per the procedure under section 14B.”
However, this will not affect Ruto despite being the leader of UDA, and governors and deputy governors who have joined him, owing to a court advisory in the case of Migori Governor Okoth Obado who was sued after ditching People Democratic Party (PDP) which sponsored him in 2013, to defend his seat on an Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) ticket. The advisory exempts them from application of the Act.Law on expulsion
A member of a political party, according to Section 14A of the Political Parties Act, is deemed to have quit his party if they form another party, join in the formation of another outfit, join another political party, in any way or manner publicly advocate the formation of another party, or promote the ideology, interests or policies of another political party. Section 14B says a person may be expelled from a political party if that person contravenes any provision of the constitution of that political party.
The party’s move comes barely a day after Murathe, who is one of Uhuru’s confidantes, said the party was not taking it lightly that some MPs, particularly those from central Kenya, among them Moses Kuria of Gatundu South, Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira), Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu) and Alice Wahome (Kandara) were disparaging the President.
Murathe said that once they are done with the ongoing campaign to revamp Jubilee Party, they will target the rebels, adding that none of them will win their seats back. He noted that in Mt Kenya region, in all elections, 80 per cent of the leaders are never re-elected.
Lawyer Ndegwa Njiru said that given the fact the MPs have officially left their mother party through writing and joined UDA, which can be confirmed by the office of the Registrar of Political Parties, the lawmakers will “easily and automatically” lose their seats.
“The move is executable; it is feasible because that is the law. The MPs cannot continue holding the party to ransom yet they are no longer members. Under what circumstances will they continue holding their positions and enjoying the benefits which they do, yet they are not members of the party?” the lawyer asked.
But the DP’s allies, led by Keiyo South MP David Rono, said they were unmoved, vowing to challenge any such move in court. Further, he said, they are hopeful that National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi, who has been accused by Uhuru’s supporters of leaning towards Democratic Party, will not allow the process to happen.
Those likely to be affected include Speaker Justin Muturi, who is now the Democratic Party leader, and his Senate counterpart Ken Lusaka, who is keen to recapture Bungoma seat on a Ford-K ticket.
“We are not surprised at all because we have all along known that we are dealing with people who have unnecessary bitterness with us due to our loyalty to the deputy president. So, we are waiting and we will deal with that matter in court. Again, I doubt the Speaker will implement such orders once it lands on his desk. He is one of us and doesn’t hold bitterness against us and is therefore likely to ignore it,” Roto told People Daily.
