President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga allied Members of Parliament triumphed over forces loyal to Deputy President William Ruto.
The handshake partners whipped Ruto’s side to reject all their proposals and mainly the one that sought to restrict a coalition party to only field a joint presidential candidate.
To prevent chaos like last week where water bottles became ‘missiles’, there was not a single water bottle in the chambers as explained by Deputy Speaker Moses Cheboi. Water bottles were only available outside the chambers.
The decision to allow electronic voting yesterday hastened the rejection of amendments, paving the way for Azimio La Umoja Movement to field candidates for President, Governor, Senator, Woman Representative, single constituency MP and Member of County Assembly (MCA).
Allies of Uhuru and Raila defeated an attempt by Ruto’s team to expunge a clause spelling out a period within which parties can enter a coalition. The clause was one of the most contested.
Nambale MP Sakwa Bunyasi (ANC) proposed to amend Clause 8 of the Bill to compel coalition parties to only have a joint presidential candidate.
The import of the proposal was to have affiliate parties independently field candidates for the other seats.
“A coalition political party shall only field candidates for election as President,” proposed Bunyasi.
But it was defeated by 132 MPs backing Uhuru and Raila against 111 drawn from UDA and some members of ANC.
Kimunya’s amendment on Clause 15 also sailed through. The Clause provides that the percentage of the funds to be distributed proportionately by reference to the total number of votes secured by each political party in the preceding general election was reduced from 80 per cent to 70 per cent.
Another proportion of the funds shall be distributed to political parties based on the number of candidates the party won from special interest groups in the preceding general.
Another 10 per cent of the funds will be shared among parties based on the total number of representatives elected for each party.
Garissa Township MP Aden Duale had sought to have Clause 8 amendment by deleting a requirement that parties enter coalition at least six months to the August poll.
The clause provides that “in the case of a coalition political party, the coalition political party shall submit the coalition agreement at least six months before a general election.”
But it was shot down by 128 MPs against 104.
National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya subsequently moved an amendment to reduce the period from the initial six months to 120 days.
This implies that parties seeking to enter coalitions will have to deposit such agreements with the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) by April 9.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has since set April 16 – 22 to conduct party primaries.
Eldas MP Aden Keynan said the new timelines were in tandem with the tradition of previous winning coalitions, and would allow adequate time for like-minded parties to undertake adequate consultations.
“The best parallels to draw to this is the 2002 unveiling of the National Alliance Rainbow Coalition (Narc), and the late 2012 launch of the TNA-URP coalition both of which happened in under four months to the polls. The period between now and April when the deadline proposed by the bill elapses provides ample time for like-minded players to coalesce,” said Keynan.
MP David Ochieng (Ugenya) withdrew his amendment on Clause 15 that sought to provide that in case of a fresh presidential election, the final vote will be used in determining sharing of funds.
Ndindi Nyoro also withdrew his amendment that sought to amend the period for formation of coalitions to 60 days after failing to marshal numbers.
MP Dido Rasso proposed amendment that sought have coalitions formed 145 days before the general election was rejected.
MP Nixon Korir had also sought to amend Clause 8 that provides for the time frame for coalition formation by reducing it from six months to 90 days.
Last week blows were exchanged leading to hospitalisation of Benard Koros (Sigowet/Soin) while Minority Leader John Mbadi was suspended.
The special sitting was, however, characterised by claims that electronic cards of absent members were used to vote. Nominated MP Cecile Mbarire also alleged a scheme to compromise voting system to favour one side.
The President and ODM leader seek to create a monolithic Narc-like party for next year’s elections.
The grand plan is to put in place a law that will allow a coalition of political parties to field candidates jointly across the country under one movement.
The aim is to prevent the self-cannibalisation of parties and candidates supporting the Azimio movement.
The Standard has established that Uhuru and Raila are planning to zone some parts of the country to have certain parties perceived popular identify candidates to run on the movement ticket.
In some areas like Nairobi, the parties under the new movement will conduct joint nominations.
“We still don’t know how many parties will be in Azimio. Once we have the Political Parties (Amendments) Bill, 2021 passed to allow formation of a coalition party then the various parties can formally decide to join,” Mbadi told The Standard.
“It is at that point that we will agree whether to have joint candidates or to zone the country. Many of us are of the feeling that we should not have multiple candidates because it will compromise the strength of the coalition party,” he added.
Similarly, it was a big win for the backers of the handshake duo after they successfully adopted at least 120 days before the polls as the period for parties to enter coalitions.
But Ruto’s camp claimed that the requirement was meant to bulldoze political parties to enter coalition parties when they are not ready.
Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa said allowing the clause will block other parties from entering coalition due to the set deadline.
Last evening, the House nearly descended into chaos after Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro sensationally claimed that MPs were being bribed to vote in a certain way.
Nyoro claimed that Wajir Woman Rep was bribing MPs with Sh100,000.
“We have evidence that these members are being given 100,000 by Fatuma Gedi,” he said.
Session chairperson Soipan Tuya demanded that the MP substantiate his claims and was forced to suspend him for two sittings after he failed to substantiate his allegations.
“Based on standing order 107, having misled the House, I order Nyoro be removed from precincts of Parliament for two days,” Tuya ordered.
She also directed that Gedi be kicked out of Parliament for a day as a punishment for distributing sweets to members. Gedi had admitted that she was distributing the sweets to members to boost their energy levels following a day-long session.
Earlier in the day there was a scuffle when sergeant at arms sought to push away MPs allied to Ruto who were obstructing Kimunya from prosecuting his amendments.
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