•Ordinarily, an elected leader is required to seek a fresh mandate from the electorates through by-election upon resignation from a sponsoring party.
•However, Nderitu told MCAs, MPs and governors, they have up to March 26 to resign and join outfits of their choice.
Image: EZEKIEL AMING'A
At least 150 MPs are relieved after an assurance they can ditch their parties without losing their parliamentary seats.
Many MPs have in recent months abandoned their sponsoring parties and informally joined new outfits in an ongoing realignment.
On Wednesday, Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu said any elected leader dumping his or her mother party will not be subjected to a by-election for complying with a legal timeline.
Nderitu cited a provision in the law that bars the electoral agency from conducting a by-election three months to a general election.
United Democratic Alliance and Democratic Action Party of Kenya are the major beneficiaries of the recent realignments.
Ordinarily, an elected leader is required to seek a fresh mandate from the electorates through by-election upon resignation from a sponsoring party.
However, Nderitu told MCAs, MPs and governors, they have up to March 26 to resign and join outfits of their choice.
The strict timelines was a headache especially to Deputy President William Ruto’s allies who had informally ditched ruling Jubilee for UDA.
The registrar said after the expiry of the timeline one will be unable to join any party for the sake of the election.
“By March 26, anybody who wants to participate on a ticket of a party should have joined that outfit,” Nderitu said.
March 26 however translates to five months to the August 9 election and any Kenyan can go to court to force a by-election.
Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju said the seats should be ideally vacant once the members resign but said the ruling outfit will not pursue that route; it will be an exercise in futility.
“There are a lot of legal issues including the contradiction in the law that there cannot be a by-election three months to the general election. What will be the point of having them lose their seats?” Tuju asked.
“Kenya is a litigious society. We are not going to engage in those political sideshows.”
Nderitu admitted the existence of lacuna in law on what happens when elected leaders resign from sponsoring parties during the electioneering period.
“You don’t risk losing anything, it is a legal timeline,” she said.
“These days parliament is not dissolved so there is a lacuna in what should happen when an elected leader resigns from the sponsor party. There is a requirement that no by-election can be conducted three months to the August polls.”
She spoke Wednesday during a breakfast consultative session on access to information framework on elections and media practice organised by the Media Council of Kenya.
In attendance amongst others were MCK chief executive officer David Omwoyo and the council’s chairman Maina Muiruri.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris