Registrar of Political Parties warns Azimio MPs shifting allegiance to Ruto’s Camp
Registrar of Political Parties warns Azimio MPs shifting allegiance to Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza coalition.
The two main political formations, Azimio and Kenya Kwanza locked in a stalemate over representation in the National Assembly following a fiercely contested election.
The absolute majority needed to pass important was not attained by either of the two groups.
The Kenya Kwanza Alliance has 159 MPs, whereas Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja has 162 MPs.
President-elect William Ruto is seeking to marshal numbers ahead of the anticipated commencement of the 13th Parliament and has been wooing Azimio MPs to join his faction.
On Thursday- August 18, Ruto welcomed a delegation of United Democratic Movement (UDM) leaders at his Karen Residence in what appeared to be a resolve to join forces.
The deputy president also welcomed leaders from the United Party of Independence Alliance (UPIA) and Kenya African National Union (KANU) on Friday, August 19, with all three parties being affiliates of Azimio La Umoja.
However, Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu has warned Azimio leaders of Joining Ruto’s coalition Kenya Kwanza.
Anne Nderitu says politicians seeking to shift allegiance to other coalitions will have to terminate their initial pacts and resign from parties that sponsored them to win elective seats.
While acknowledging that members of political parties have the right to associate with any coalition, Nderitu however warned that the law does not envisage a situation one can be a signatory to more than one coalition.
“They can associate however they want but they cannot be in two coalitions – they have to resign from one. So far, I have not received a request from any party that wants to leave a coalition,” Nderitu told The Standard.
Her response came in the wake of President-elect William Ruto wooing Azimio La Umoja leaders and independently elected MPs.
Spokesperson of the Raila Odinga’s campaign secretariat Makau Mutua also condemned the move, for what he termed as illegally inducing members into his camp.
“Ruto should know that it is illegal for him, or others, to induce members to purport to leave Azimio,” stated Makau Mutua arguing that Ruto wanted to take Kenya back to the one-party-state era.
Despite a swift move by Kenya Kwanza to woo independent and non-aligned members, the law states that the majority side is the biggest party or coalition in Parliament.
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Raila slams William Ruto for wooing Azimio leaders to Kenya Kwanza
Mass exodus from Azimio coalition as William Ruto embarks on ‘poaching’ mission
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