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Nairobi – The party leader of the Amani National Congress (ANC), Musalia Mudavadi, says he supports the proposed changes in the draft law to change political parties in 2021, which, among other things, should allow candidates to run either on coalition party tickets or on individual parties.
Speaking to residents of Bungoma on Sunday, Mudavadi said that after extensive consultations with like-minded people, his party had decided to support the changes.
“I want the Kenyans to understand that we discussed with (Moses) Wetangula and decided to support the political parties’ amendments because we were dealing with the situation of the 2002 Narc coalition, in which we had rainbow candidates, the Narc- Government formed, have strengthened, “said Mudavadi.
The ANC leader complained that the lack of clear provisions in the coalition agreements had always led to distrust of the political agreements in parliamentary elections.
This is true even if the passing of the amendments to the party law is seen as a win for ODM leader Raila Odinga, who is aiming for a pre-election pact under the Azimio la Umoja movement before the 2022 elections.
“The reason we support the political party amendment bill is because it is bitten once, shy twice and I will tell you forming a coalition is no walk in the park,” Mudavadi said, referring to his own previous collaboration with Odinga under the National Super Alliance (NASA).
It could go well for the move to amend the Political Parties Act in the August House, with the support of Mudavadi, now ahead of the special session for Sept.
The bill, supported by the majority leader in the National Assembly, Amos Kimunya, stipulates that in the case of a political coalition party, the coalition agreement must be presented at least six months before an election.
According to the draft law, the coalition party is entered in the party register.
It also provides that a person can be expelled from a political party if they violate provisions of a political party’s constitution, in this case party hopping.
The debate on the second reading of the bill during a special session on December 23, 2021 began on a rocky road as opponents of the bill questioned the constitutionality of some of the clauses of the bill.
About 113 MPs, mostly allied with President Uhuru Kenyatta and Odinga, a group identified as the handshake team, voted to move the debate on the bill to the third reading and then vote against 68 as it appeared whether the bill was imminent.
However, the smooth sail was canceled after the afternoon session was interrupted by deputy spokesman Moses Cheboi.
Among other things, the draft law should provide for the formation of a political coalition party, an aspect that is one of the controversial issues.
To the bill, nearly 17 members put forward amendments to the bill, with a majority of the clauses allied with the vice president calling for the amendment of any clauses they deemed unconstitutional.
Members who tabled their amendments include JLAC Committee Chair Muturi Kigano, Ayub Savula (Lugari), Kimani Ichungwa (Kikuyu), Caleb Kositany (Soy) and Daniel Tuitoek (Mogotho).
