It is time to lift the lid, given the bickering in NASA, on whether there was a power sharing agreement or not, and whether it provided for the sharing of spoils in Parliament and Political Parties Fund monies.
The ODM trio of chairman John Mbadi, secretary general Edwin Sifuna and Treasurer Timothy Bosire have arrogantly denied any existence of such an agreement. It is time to slay the dragon of lies in ODM.
The trio aren’t unaware of the NASA Coalition Agreement: They are simply plain dishonest. Article 9 of the deal is titled “Sharing of power in the Legislature”, of which ODM leader Raila Odinga is the first signatory. It proceeds to itemise all the leadership positions to be shared in both Houses of Parliament. Article 11 reinforces this by stating positions eligible for power sharing include “Leadership positions in the Legislature the coalition is entitled to or eligible for”.
The agreement is carefully framed cognisant of the coalition being in the opposition by not prefixing the positions with Majority or Minority labels. This was a clever way of countering the usual ODM disclaimer that as long as a coalition fails to win an election, the agreements remain a nullity. For which coalition agreement hasn’t ODM abrogated using that excuse?
Therefore, an agreement on sharable positions existed whether NASA won or lost. ODM is in breach of the agreement to hog leadership positions in Parliament and even attempt to de-whip partner party members. ODM has further contravened Article 10 (2)(C), which demands power sharing will be governed by “Utmost good faith among the coalition partners”. There isn’t “good faith” in the insults the unruly trio of Mbadi, Sifuna and Bosire is transacting against leadership of NASA parties.
However, ODM can try go it alone in Parliament. The catch is it must surrender the positions it currently holds for a new vote devoid of the NASA umbrella to be taken. But that isn’t about to happen. Instead it is asking the victims of its maleficence to take a walk.
Article 11 on the Code of Conduct of the Coalition caps it for ODM bad manners by demanding that “Members of the Coalition parties given executive appointments, leadership positions in legislative bodies, and other national and county government executive appointments, including those in the management of coalition affairs shall; conduct themselves with decorum and respect and in a manner that will not bring the coalition into disrepute” and “be tolerant and inclusive in all their political activities”.
This hasn’t tamed ODM leadership sick appetite for bad mouthing others.
Lastly, ODM owes partner parties money it gets from the Political Parties Fund but the party is a bad debtor. The debt isn’t a token. It is a demand buttressed by the NASA agreement ODM leader signed.
Article 13 on Finance is explicit at 13(2) (a) on sharing of Funds: “The Coalition parties shall receive their respective share of the Political Party Fund as provided in the Political Parties Act” and the capper “(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2(a) of this Article, the Coalition parties shall develop detailed guidelines and procedures for sharing of funds.”
“Coalition parties shall develop detailed guidelines and procedures for sharing of funds”.
That’s what ODM should work on rather than attempting truancy.
As to whether MPs should contribute to NASA upkeep, the coalition long developed guidelines for MPs contributions of Sh10,000, actualising 13(2) (b)
that “The Coalition parties will flesh out details of the power sharing envisaged herein after the elections to be held on 8th August 2017” and (c) that “The Coalition, with the approval of the Coalition parties, may retain any funds for purposes of managing and running the affairs and operations of the Coalition.”
So, against what is Mbadi swearing they don’t owe partners money? Where then is the authority of ODM to stop MPs remittances to NASA? Article 13 was an affirmative action informed by the reality that the party producing the presidential candidate disadvantages partners in attracting more support for its other candidates. This became obvious when ODM got more governors, senators and MPs than its partners.
It behoves ODM to check the narcissistic streak of its
petulant officials, lest it ends up a scorned party from
joining coalitions. Its deceitful stripe does not endear its leadership to anyone. Jubilee must be on guard that its
new partner is disowning a legally bidding agreement,
and might think twice about the honesty pursued in the
Building Bridges Initiative.