• In a virtual ruling rendered on Monday, the tribunal dismissed the appeal in its entirety and ordered the appellants to bear the costs of the suit.
• The group had on May 23 been temporarily reinstated by the PPDT pending the hearing of their appeal which was heard on June, 23 2023.
Image: THE STAR
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta's attempt to maintain control of the Jubilee party has suffered a blow after the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal threw out an appeal against the ouster of his allies as party officials.
In a virtual ruling rendered on Monday, the tribunal dismissed the appeal in its entirety and ordered the appellants to bear the costs of the suit for the respondents and interested parties.
"We answer the second issue as framed, in the negative. We have said so much to demonstrate that the order that commends itself to us is dismissal of the appeal. The same lacks merit.
"Costs follow the event. A successful party should be awarded costs to cover the exigencies of the litigation. We do not see why we should depart from this principle. The appellants shall bear the costs of the Respondents and interested parties in this Appeal."
The tribunal further struck out a suit filed against the Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu for effecting leadership changes in a letter dated May 19, 2023.
"Far from the Appellant’s submissions, we do not see any non-compliance with either the Registrar’s statutory duty or our decision in Appeal No. 1 of 2023. Indeed, the Registrar, in our considered view, is neither in breach of or in contempt of our edicts in the aforesaid decision," PPDT ruled.
The appellants had listed the Office of registrar of Political Parties and the Registrar as the respondents while the National Disciplinary Committee of the Jubilee party, Jubilee deputy secretary general Joshua Kutuny and EALA MP Kanini Kega were listed as interested parties.
Ousted party leaders Jeremiah Kioni (secretary general) David Murathe (chairman) and Kagwe Gichohi (national treasurer) had filed the appeal on May 25 seeking stay orders for the party leadership changes.
The Registrar of Political Parties had upheld the decision by the Jubilee National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting that suspended David Murathe, Jeremiah Kioni, and Kagwe Gichohi from the Party.
The NEC meeting was held on April 28.
"Following a review of the submitted documents in line with the PPA and the party constitution, this Office is satisfied that the party adhered to the due process. Accordingly, pursuant to Section 34(da) of the PPA, this Office has updated its records and the register of party members,” Nderitu said.
But Kioni and his group argued in their appeal that the decision violated their right to fair administrative action and was in any event unreasonable.
The group had on May 23 been temporarily reinstated by the PPDT pending the hearing of their appeal which was heard on June 23, 2023.
The PPDT's ruling now settles the leadership wrangles that have rocked the former ruling party for months.
The faction allied to President William Ruto led by the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) member Kanini Kega and Kioni's faction allied to ex-President Uhuru has been at loggerheads over Jubilee's leadership.