Senators allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga yesterday pushed through the Political Parties (Amendment) Bill.
House Majority Leader Samuel Poghisio, who moved the Bill, rooted for its passage noting that it was timely and that it would streamline the activities of political parties in the country.
“The importance of political parties for democracy, cannot be overstated. A healthy, resilient democracy is based on inclusiveness, which political parties and representative institutions are in a key position to safeguard,” he said.
Seconding the Bill, Minority Leader James Orengo defended it, saying it provided a framework for establishing coalition parties.
“This Bill would make it possible for these coalitions to operate in such a way that every party and every individual who is a member of the party which forms part of that coalition would know that their rights are enshrined under a legal framework to deal with problems that may arise,” he said.
Using their superior numbers in the Senate, the pro-Handshake senators, just like their National Assembly counterparts, delivered one blow after another against Deputy President William Ruto’s camp that was determined to shoot down the Bill.
29 Senators voted in support of the Bill against seven paving the way for the Bill to be subjected to the Committee of the Whole House where members debated on the different amendments which were fronted by members.
They also shot down all amendments, fifteen in total, that had been proposed by Ruto’s allies to send the Bill to the next stage.
Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, warned that some of the clauses in the Bill were unconstitutional and would usurp the powers of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“This is a terrible, hopeless, useless Bill. This bill fails all tests. It fails the tests of drafting in terms of language. It fails the test of corresponding with other bills, including the Elections Act. It also fails miserably, the constitutional test,“ he said.
Other Ruto’s allies who had proposed amendments, including Samson Cherargei (Nandi), Petronilla Were (Nominated), Isaac Mwaura (Nominated) and Irungu Kang’ata (Murang’a), watched helplessly as they were shot down one after another.
Cherargei had proposed the deletion of Clause 9 of the Bill that provides for the formation of a coalition political party.
He had also proposed an amendment to Clause 20 of the Bill that seeks to reduce the number of days a political party should submit to the Registrar a register of its members and a statement of assets and liabilities from 90 days to 30 days before a General Election.
“The clarification of this is that we should (the period) reduce to at least 30 days because when a coalition of political parties come together and they want to run jointly for a General Election, that 30 days is more than sufficient,” Cherargei said.
