Saturday, July 13, 2013

Raw nerves over proposal to turn ruling coalition into party

By MWANIKI MUNUHE
KENYA: A plot to transform the Jubilee coalition into a political party has outraged some member parties and added a new twist to the wrangles within The National Alliance (TNA). The matter would have been discussed at a TNA parliamentary group retreat planned for this weekend that has since been cancelled.
The Standard On Saturday has established that the idea has divided President Uhuru Kenyatta’s party and upset some of his allies. A credible source in the alliance said the proposal has elicited a heated exchange between members of different parties within Jubilee who see it as aimed at crippling some parties.
Some members see the move as part of a wider plot to bring funding from the Political Parties’ Fund under unified management. If the fund receives the amounts dictated by law, Jubilee could get upwards of Sh5 billion over the next five years.  
Largely opposed
At the moment, the fund only has about Sh300 million allocated to it this year. The process through which such a structure would be constituted is itself controversial. “The bottom line is the disagreement on whether or not to transform the coalition into a political party,” said a source who cannot be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. “This proposal is largely opposed by top officials of different parties because they feel they will lose the opportunity to manage the political parties funding.” Further, a section of influential politicians have argued that transforming the coalition into a political party could effectively pose a political challenge in 2017 General Election, especially during nominations stage.
“There some of us who have opposed the proposal on the basis that in the next general elections, it could create a problem,” he added. “For instance, there are areas where individual parties are more popular than the coalition itself.  For this reason, we could end up having parallel candidates.
Take for example in Rift Valley, URP maybe popular than Jubilee itself, the same case would apply for TNA in Central.” President Uhuru Kenyatta has remained quiet over the ensuing powerwrangles within his political party even as it remains unclear how far the battles will persist.
A press briefing scheduled for last Monday by TNA Interim officials was postponed on the last minute after some of the officials were summoned for a meeting at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi by a former security minister who is also a sitting MP. One of the officials who spoke to us confirmed that the meeting happened but declined to divulge further details.
Details of the Monday meeting remain scanty but the officials later released a statement castigating ousted chairman Johnson Sakaja on contravening the law by ‘purporting’ to convene a meeting involving Parliamentary group, the party National Oversight Board (NOB) and the Secretariat of the party.  Speaking to The Standard On Saturday yesterday, Mohammed Abdullahi who is a memberof the TNA oversight board said the party still holds the position that the meeting called by Sakaja was illegal.
“The meeting that has been called by our Former Chairman Johnson Sakaja at the Elementaita Country Lodge… is illegal to the best of our knowledge,” said Mohammed. “No such meeting was sanctioned neither by the National Oversight Board of TNA nor by the interim Chair Lydia Mokaya. 
The party has been patient with Sakaja for a long time, but he has continually displayed arrogance and ignored the party’s constitution, its structures and procedures. It is appalling that an immediate former Chairman of such an esteemed political institution can attempt to subvert the rule of law.”  Speaking to this newspaper in a previous interview, Sakaja said he was legally the chairman of the party and that he has not in any way contravened the constitution.
Controversial meeting
This happens only a week after the power battles within TNA cost the Jubilee coalition control of the crucial Centre for Multiparty Democracy CMD a fortnight ago.
Although President Uhuru Kenyatta’s former party KANU had previously succeeded in pushing current house speaker Justin Muturi to be the chair of CMD, lack of coordination and persistent fights in the president’s party cost the ruling coalition the seat. This is in spite of the fact that Jubilee enjoys a majority in both the National Assembly and the Senate. It was widely expected that Jubilee would easily get the seat until fierce disagreements emerged with top leadership and other powerful forces within the party indicated that the party should be represented by the Mokaya group in a move that is reported to have annoyed Sakaja and secretary general Onyango Oloo. Consequently, the Secretary General group wrote to the CMD indicating that it was the party resolution that he would lead a team of officials representing TNA.
It was after reports emerged that Mokaya had made the payment that a letter was hurriedly drafted and sent to CMD ostensibly to give guidance as to TNA representation in CMD. There had been plans to hold a TNA parliamentary group meeting this weekend. However, some MPs who spoke to this newspaper said they had not been invited.

No comments:

Post a Comment