Group wants court to compel 'defecting' MPs vacate seats

Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s supporters have moved to court to compel MPs who have ditched their political parties to resign from Parliament.

The move piles pressure on dozens of MPs to relinquish their parliamentary seats after ditching the parties that sponsored them to Parliament for new ones.

The Friends of Raila (FORA) lobby group officials Micah Kigen (Chairman), Hassan Omar Hassan (Vice Chairman), Eliud Owalo (Secretary) and activist Charles Omanga want the court to order the Registrar of Political Parties to write to the Speaker of the National Assembly to declare the parliamentary seats held by such MPs vacant.

They contend that the Registrar’s failure to take action against the MPs is a violation of the Constitution and the Political Parties Act.

“We also want an order directing that the said Members of Parliament are deemed to have resigned from their sponsoring political parties pursuant to section 14 of the Political Parties Act and accordingly need to seek a fresh mandate from their constituents,” said the activists’ lawyer Anthony Oluoch.

The move is likely to affect dozens of MPs who have abandoned the parties that sponsored them to Parliament including presidential contenders Musalia Mudavadi, Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto and Peter Kenneth.

Mr Mudavadi and Mr Ruto have led dozens of MPs allied to them in walking out of ODM for United Democratic Forum (UDF) and the United Republican Party (URP) respectively.

The move comes only a day after cabinet ministers Moses Wetangula and James Orengo challenged the Registrar of Political Parties Ms Lucy Ndung’u to declare the seats held by such MPs vacant because they have violated the law.

Speaking in Wagai, Gem constituency on Saturday, Mr Orengo challenged Mr Mudavadi and MPs allied to him to resign from Parliament and seek a fresh mandate on a UDF ticket.

Mr Wetangula also challenged the Registrar and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to enforce the law by declaring the seats vacant.

“It is callous for legislators to blatantly violate the Constitution by undermining the very parties that sponsored them. These party hoppers are being illogical when they say openly that they have defected to other parties yet they remain in Parliament by virtue of belonging to parties they have disowned,” Mr Wetang’ula said.

“IEBC has a constitutional mandate to move with speed and declare seats for such MPs vacant,” the minister said.

100 MPs violated Parties Act

IEBC chairman Mr Ahmed Isaack Hassan was recently quoted stating that the Commission had identified 100 MPs in the current Parliament who had violated the political parties act by shifting allegiance to other parties.

Reached for comment, both the Registrar and the chairman of the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) Charles Nyachae declined to comment on the matter.

“I’ve not seen the court documents so I cannot comment,” Ms Ndungu said.

Mr Nyachae on his part promised to issue a statement on the matter on Tuesday.

“The part of the Constitution that deals directly with the matter is chapter 7, which is suspended until after the first General Election but we are combing through the Political Parties Act with a tooth comb so that we can give an informed opinion on the matter," he said.

Makadara MP Gideon Mbuvi and his Mathira counterpart Ephraim Maina went to court after their parties Narc-Kenya and Safina expelled them for supporting other parties and got a reprieve after the High Court issued orders stopping their expulsion until the cases are heard and determined.

The lobby group’s petition is also seeking a directive to the registrar to publish information regarding all political parties that complied with the Act as at April 30 and a list of MPs who are registered in those parties.

They accused Ms Ndung’u of failing to ensure and verify that no person is a member of more than one political party despite public declarations by some MPs that they had changed parties and public displays of disobedience to the Political Parties Act.

According to the petitioners, Ms Ndung’u has failed to fully comply with Section 34 of the Political Parties Act which gives her power to register, regulate, monitor, investigate, and supervise political parties to ensure compliance with the Act.

Section 14 of the Act provides that any person who while being a member of a political party falls out with the party shall be deemed to have resigned from the previous political party.

Mr Oluoch submitted that the wording of Section 14 are clothed in mandatory terms that require the registrar to take action which naturally will lead to resignation of a member of a sponsoring political party to parliament.

“It is now in public domain that a good number of MPs have formed, joined and promoted the ideologies of other parties which did not sponsor them to parliament under the watchful eye of the registrar and in breach of her statutory duties,” said Oluoch.

He said that Article 35 of the Constitution gives a duty to the registrar not only to disclose which MPs have breached the Political Act but also to take action to ensure the rule of law is followed.

Mr Oluoch said that the registrar’s failure is not only an abdication of her statutory duty but also a continuation of perpetuation of impunity and an abrogation of the role of political parties as an institution of governance.

The lobby group wants a declaration that the registrar is an independent office and should discharge her duties without directions of any person and therefore should be obligated to ensure compliance with the rule of law and promotion of the Constitution.