Barring party-hopping unconstitutional, Gatanga MP says

Gatanga MP Humphrey Njuguna wants counties reduced to 15. Photo/File
Gatanga MP Humphrey Njuguna wants counties reduced to 15. Photo/File

Gatanga MP Humphrey Njuguna has opposed the law barring party hopping, terming it as unconstitutional and high-handed.

Njuguna said that aspiring politicians should be allowed to move to other parties if the party preliminaries are not fair.

He said that there will be no democracy if such aspirants will be restricted from joining other political parties.

The MP said that should there be an unfair outcome of party primaries and candidates denied party certificates, they should have option of seeking election through other party tickets.

"We know that there has never been democracy in party preliminaries and I am a product of this. In 2013, I won the TNA ticket and it was handed to me only to be repossessed after three days. I vied on a Narc party ticket and won. I am only advocating for people who might undergo the same scenario I was in," Njuguna said.

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The legislator made the comments at the weekend during the commissioning of four newly built classrooms at Kiangigi primary school built by Gatanga CDF.

He said that people will throng the courts after the nominations to seek a repeal of the law that was passed by the National Assembly late last month.

"Kenyans will be ripped off their democracy if their chosen leaders will be denied party tickets and to worsen the matter be denied the chance to vie on another party’s ticket. This will make people move to court to counter the law barring party hopping," Njuguna said.

"The constitution has it that the powers of the country belong to members of the public or those who they have elected democratically. Therefore, there must be fairness in the party preliminaries. If one loses, he should accept it but if he is denied victory he has to raise questions," he added.

He said that the time span between the party nominations and the general elections is minimal for the commission to manage.

Before the law was passed, the National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi said that provision in the electoral reforms Bill barring post-primaries party-hopping was constitutional but he allowed MPs to propose amendments to the proposed law.

However, MPs withdrew their proposed changes to the 2016 Election Laws (Amendment) Bill and the Election Offences Bill - now signed into law.

They passed the law that restricts politicians from changing their parties close to and after primaries.

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