- Ford Kenya battles escalate as rival factions clash over delegates meeting called for November 21.
- Wamunyi faction vows to proceed with the NDC as Wetangula insists the meeting is illegally convened.
Image: JOHN NALIANYA
Rival factions battling for the control of Ford Kenya have clashed over a National Delegates Congress set to endorse the ouster of party leader Moses Wetang'ula.
Wetang'ula has declared as illegal, null and void the November 21 NDC convened by the Wafula Wamunyinyi-led camp, saying it has not been sanctioned by party organs.
In a public notice, Wetang'ula asked party members to ignore the meeting, which he maintained has been invalidly convened.
"Neither the party nor any of its organs instructed and or authorised Eseli Simiyu to issue the Notice on October 31, 2020 and November 1, 2020," Wetang'ula said.
The said NDC meeting has been convened by Simiyu, the party's secretary general who fell out with Wetang'ula and now allied to Wamunyinyi.
Wetang'ula was initially ousted as party leader in May, but he moved to the High Court, which temporarily reinstated him.
The registrar has said the Wetang'ula faction of the National Executive Council lacked quorum as required under the party constitution to overturn his ouster by the Wamunyinyi team.
The matter is yet to be concluded by the registrar of parties after both factions claimed leadership of the party.
But on Sunday, Wetang'ula said the Wamunyinyi faction purporting to call the NDC has no party constitutional mandate to do so.
“Consequently, all members of Ford Kenya party are advised to ignore in its entirety the unauthorised and unlawful purported notice by a suspended official,” Wetang'ula said in a Sunday notice in one of the dailies.
Wetang'ula insisted that Simuyu, the Tongaren MP, was suspended from office and therefore has no legal authority to summon an NDC.
Simiyu had been replaced by the Wetangula wing by Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa.
The Bungoma senator argued that Simiyu, who signed the NDC notice calling for the meeting, had been restrained by the High Court from transacting business of the party.
“Honourable Eseli Simiyu was suspended from the office of the secretary general of the party on May 31,2020 and he was also prohibited from transacting the business of the party,” Wetangula said.
However, Simiyu hit back at Wetang'ula insisting that he was the legally recognised Ford Kenya secretary general and therefore authorised to convened an NDC meeting.
“I have never been legally suspended as secretary general, the meeting that purportedly suspended me was found by the registrar of political parties to have lacked quorum,” Simiyu said.
When Wetang'ula presented the same NEC minutes to the registrar, they were turned down, Simiyu added.
According to Simiyu, the upcoming NDC meeting will go on as planned because it had been convened legally by the secretary general and authorised by the party organs.
“I am the one authorised by the constitution to convene the NDC, Wetang'ula is too scared because he knows he is no longer the party leader. He had said we did a coup, now that we have convened the NDC, why is he worried?” Simiyu said.
The two factions could now be headed for a major clash in the control of the NDC, if the Wamunyinyi faction proceeds with the planned event seen as a last punch o Wetang'ula.
There are reports that the NDC meeting has the backing of major political players in the country said to be executing a radical political machination to kick out Wetang'ula from the party.
During the launch of the Building Bridges Initiative Report on October 26, Wamunyinyi was surprisingly given an opportunity to speak for Ford Kenya at the presidential event.
Although Wetang'ula spoke after Wamunyinyi, the recognition of the Kanduyi lawmaker exposed the high-stake political battled rocking Ford Kenya.
The November 21 NDC is seen as the ultimate sword of Damocles that could vanquish him from the helm of Ford Kenya as the 2022 political dynamics shift fast.