Major political parties face crisis over registers

Major political parties are facing a crisis developing clean registers to be used in the primaries for the coming General Election.

The legal demand that only party members would be allowed to participate in party primaries could lock out millions of potential voters from participating in the exercise expected between February and May.

Both ODM and the Jubilee Party have initiated fresh digital registration of members with President Kenyatta set to unveil smart card registration of Jubilee members later this week.

On Sunday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said that only members of political parties will be allowed to participate in party primaries according to the law.

“We expect political parties to come up with clean registers that can be verifiable and reliable to be used to clear their members to participate in party primaries,” said IEBC chief executive Ezra Chiloba.

Mr Chiloba said that it is the mandate of the Registrar of Political parties to ensure parties have authentic registers that can stand any test.

The IEBC boss said that parties who do not adhered to the law would be penalized and that their nominations could be challenged either internally or externally.

On Friday, President Kenyatta will unveil the Jubilee Party membership registration in Nairobi which will then be launched in all counties by the interim party officials around the country.

“It is important that all parties register their members, this will help nurture democracy and save us from infiltration where people who do not belong to certain parties gate-crash into their nominations,” said Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi.

ODM chairman John Mbadi confirmed that registration was going on in the party but admitted that the exercise was dogged by lots of confusion and that most of unregistered party members may not be reached.

“It is a vital exercise. We are doing it digitally but I doubt that we will be able to complete before the deadline and have everybody booked in,” Mr Mbadi warned.

The party is running a bulk registration system where an individual is granted access to the application then he or she uses the rights to register those without access to the rights.

But Mr Mbadi said members should be allowed direct link to the registration application and a less complex payment process guaranteed.

Party members are required to pay Sh20 to be registered but Mr Mbadi is appealing for a more accessible system.

REGISTER MEMBERS

The chairperson of ODM National Elections Board, Ms Judy Pareno, said registration was not in her docket but warned that non-registered members would not vote.

A Homa Bay gubernatorial aspirant, Mr Sammy Wakiaga, also urged the party to simplify the exercise and neutrally register members. “It is not good to make a thing like this complex. Places like Nyanza, where winning nominations in a party like ODM is as good as winning the elections, we need everybody in the party register,” he said.

In Jubilee areas, Kirinyaga Governor Joseph Ndathi said that the exercise should be neutral and that as many party members should be enlisted to ensure they have the right to vote.

“We hope that the membership drive will take care of all party member’s interests. This is a serious matter and should be all inclusive,” he said.

The Registrar of Political Parties, Ms Lucy Ndung’u, said that many Kenyans are not registered as political party members and would face difficulties exercising their rights to choose leaders even at the nomination level.

“Many parties only stick to the requirement to register 1,000 per 24 counties. But in the coming elections non-registered party members will not vote,” Ms Ndung’u said.