- “The way you deny a person from hopping from party A to B, is the same way you should deny a candidate from hopping from a party to independent,” Owiye said.
- “If you belong to a political party on May 9, then one is disqualified from being an independent candidate,” Owiye said.
Image: EZEKIEL AMINGA
The electoral commission has moved to block nomination losers from vying as independent candidates in the August 9 General Election.
IEBC seeks to amend the Elections Act, 2011. It targets to shift the deadline for submission of party membership lists until after certification by the political parties’ registrar.
Instead of the 120 days in the existing law – which informed the deadline of April 9 - IEBC wants the days moved to 90 days.
In this respect, the party and independent candidates would be cleared at the same time.
The IEBC is set to register candidates from May 29 to June 9.
In this regard, May 9 would be the last day the IEBC is to receive the party membership list.
IEBC, in a presentation by Legal Services director Chrispine Owiye on behalf of chairman Wafula Chebukati, said the bid is to provide equality in treatment of candidates – both presented by political parties and independents.
“The way you deny a person from hopping from party A to B, is the same way you should deny a candidate from hopping from a party to independent,” Owiye said on Tuesday.
He spoke at a meeting of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly which is considering amendments to the Elections Act, 2011.
The Constitution says that for one to be an independent candidate, they must not have been a member of a political party at least 90 days to the general election.
“If you belong to a political party on May 9, then one is disqualified from being an independent candidate,” Owiye said.
With parties scheduled to do their nominations until April 22, the IEBC seeks to give the defectors limited time to defect from the parties after losing.
The law provides if somebody fails the nominations, he needs to resign but this time they will have to meet the constitutional timelines of May 9.
“When he resigns he can become an independent candidate. But if he resigns from a party after May 9, he cannot become an independent candidate,” Owiye said.
The proposal seeks to tighten the noose on parties and respective candidates.
“The 120 days (present provision) appears before parties conduct nominations. The 90 days we are seeking means any person who participates in the nominations cannot move to another political party,” the commission said.
In the present law, nomination losers have a window of 14 days to resign from the party they were banking on and become an independent candidate.
IEBC says the law denies a person the opportunity to move from one party to another but allows one to move from a party to independent.
“For equity, we want the days reduced to 90 days within which membership lists would be presented. By this, there would be no window for people who have been denied nominations to become independents,” the commission said.
Members of the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee are split on the proposal with others pointing out the chances of it being an illegality.
“It is illegal. MPs said no. You cannot restrain the right of a Kenyan from removing himself from one party to become an independent,” Kisumu Town West MP Olago Aluoch said.
“What has changed?” “If there is mischief, let us know how you want to cure it. Not illegally. It is a right for people to join and resign from a party,” the MP said.
Aluoch said they had agreed in a separate forum on the same subject and members agreed that the window must be provided for nomination losers to quit.
But Owiye said the proposal would help end the debacle where there are those who wish party hopping be allowed and those for discipline, who say there should be no hopping.
“Why deny others a chance to hop and allow others to leave their parties for independents?” he said.
Ruaraka MP Tom Kajwang’ – JLAC vice chair, supported the proposal by IEBC saying the double advantage should be dealt with.
“We must cure this situation where someone would want to taste the benefits of being a member of a party and also taste of his democratic right,” he said.
Kajwang’ said the parties’ law was to make people decide on whether they want to be a party candidate or independent from the word go.
IEBC also weighed in saying the “courts held one chooses to be in a party or independent candidate from the word go.”
Mandera West MP Adan Haji said, “Let persons decide from the start. The time limits should be the same for both party and independent candidates. Whichever way you decide, you stick with that.”
But Aluoch sought explanations why the IEBC wants to close the window yet the same exists within the Political Parties Act.
“Why close it in the Election Act? Hygiene in politics is a question of fidelity of a citizen to his or her party. How do we determine the party’s fidelity to members?” he said.
IEBC said the amendments to the parties’ law were effected within the general election timelines hence has no conflict on the timelines of nominations.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)