Senate team between rock and hard place over coalition bill

A Senate committee is trapped between a rock and a hard place over the controversial Political Parties (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

The Justice, Legal Affairs committee is faced with the challenge of whether to propose amendments to the contentious clauses in the bill or convince the house to pass it as is.

Last week, the panel received a barrage of submissions from various state and non-state organisations with most of them, including the IEBC, proposing amendments to the bill.

“It will be very difficult for us to avoid proposing amendments based on the submissions that we have received,” Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Jr, a member of the committee said.

Already, the house leadership, controlled by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM boss Raila Odinga allies, has stated its intention to have the bill passed without any amendments.

“I would wish to have it passed the way it is,” Senate majority leader Samuel Poghisio told the Star a fortnight ago.

The apparent leadership to pass the bill without any amendments and the submissions by the organisations and private citizens to tweak the document now place the team in a difficult situation.

The bill seeks to anchor President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM boss Raila Odinga’s Azimio La Umoja movement as a coalition political party.

The former prime minister intends to use the outfit as his vehicle for the state house race.

But Deputy President William Ruto allies have opposed as legislation targeted as to ‘making Raila the president.’

The nine-member panel chaired by Nyamira Senator and senior Okong’o Omogeni is currently hauled up in a hotel outside Nairobi, sieving through the submissions after conducting a two-day public participation forum.

The committee, whose members include four senior counsels, will file a report with recommendations to the House to either amend the bill or pass it as received from the National Assembly.

The report will be tabled in the House during the special siting on Tuesday. It will inform the debate on the bill

During the submissions, several players raised concerns with several clauses and proposed their amendments.

They include the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Kenya Law Reform Commission, Center for Multiparty Democracy, Council of Governors and a consortium of civil society organisations.

Clauses touching on the funding of political parties, timeline for formation of coalition party and nomination methods in picking candidates emerged as some of the most contentious.

Others were sharing of funds, auditing of the funds, timeline for full registration of political parties and deadlines for full registration of political parties.

Mutula said the committee identified at least eight clauses that require amendments, an undertaking that may not down well with the allies of the handshake partners.

“As a committee, it may be difficult for us to avoid between seven and eight amendments. But that is a committee. It will be up to the House to decide,” he said.

Last year, the committee dominated by of the country's best legal minds, boldly proposed several amendments to the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2020 otherwise known as BBI bill.

Its members include; Mutula, a senior lawyer, former attorney general and Busia Senator Amos Wako, Siaya Senator and senior counsel James Orengo, Fatuma Dullo (Isiolo), Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi) and Naomi Waqo (nominated).

IEBC, through its chairman Wafula Chebukati, in particular, isolated several clauses which if passed unamended, will interfere with the mandate of the commission as well as the August 9 election timelines.

For instance, the polls body objected to the amendment of clause 9 that seeks to have coalition parties submit the coalition agreement to the Registrar of Political parties at least 120 days before the general election.

“The timelines are also not committed to the electoral timelines because the commission is required to review nomination rules of any party participating in an election six months before nominations,” Chebukati said.

“At what time does a commission review nomination rules of a coalition party?” the electoral body boss posed.

Chebukati was also concerned of the amendments to clause 22 of the Act, which would hand new functions to the registrar of political parties.

The powers include the regulation of political parties, verification of list of members of political parties and certification that an independent candidate is not a member of a political party and that he or she does not use a symbol of a registered party, conflicted with the mandate of the IEBC.

“The provision usurps the power of the commission. Party list nominations are elections conducted by the commission.

“It is the commission to verify qualifications of the nominees and the lists are submitted as closed lists to the commission,” the IEBC boss said.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)