Kenyan political parties and formations have been largely tribal and the ensuring pre- and post-election coalitions have been characterised by betrayals.
However, the recent amendment to the Political Parties Act seeks to correct this.
But it was not a dull moment in the National Assembly during the debate and passing of the Bill.
We witnessed political jostling, shameful shouting and fist fights that clearly contravenes the leadership and integrity threshold expected of MPs. The sights were not only disturbing but also disgusting, something that would have been expected in the ancient Roman ghoulish fighting arenas.
Two fundamental questions need to be answered.
One, was the amendment necessary in the first place or is it a question of falsified urgency?
Two, why now when we are only seven months to the general election? Those who opposed this Bill have came out in the strongest terms possible to critically allege that it is a brainchild of previously considered foes now friends christened the Handshake brothers — President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga.
Further, the particular clause of coalition formation has been interpreted as their (Uhuru and Raila) plans to allow the registration of Azimio La Umoja Movement as a coalition and clear the way for it to field candidates in the August 9 polls.
However, proponents of the Bill led by National Assembly Majority leader Amos Kimunya argue the proposed law seeks to bring sanity back to our politics, stop party hoping and balkanisation of the country along ethnic lines.
Kimunya also argued that the roadmap of the Bill started in 2017, and was only accelerated so that it would be applied in August. He said if the Bill is delayed, the earliest it would have been operationalised is 2023.
These sentients were echoed by ANC leader and One Kenya Alliance principal Musalia Mudavadi.
Mudavadi said the Bill is like the 2002 Narc coalition situation, where they had the Rainbow candidates that formed the Narc government. He lamented that lack of clear provision in the coalition agreements has always led to mistrust in any general elections, which the Bill seeks to correct.
As have been reinforced by the proponents of the proposed law and argued by many others, this Bill seeks to remedy what has been bedeviling our elections every cycle – political balkanisation along ethnic lines and betrayal by coalition partners.
The former has been the reason for the post-election violence that has characterised Kenya’s elections ever since the advent of multi-party politics in Kenya.
The argument is that when parties come together into a coalition, they will not be competing about a tribe. They will be competing based on ideas, manifestos and the economy.
The latter has seen a renegade in both pre- and post-election coalitions since 2002 (such as Narc in 2002, Cord in 2013 and the Nasa and Jubilee coalitions in 2017 and 2013 respectively.
As a forward-thinking Kenyan, I am duty bound to support any electoral law that cures our country from such malady.
Some democratic scholars have argued that for a country to consolidate her democracy, there needs to be free and fair elections that are competitive and held on a regular basis.
A recipe to this is based on strong political parties/coalitions as seen in the US and the UK. In the US, for example, the elections always pit the Democrats against the Republicans. In the UK, it is always a contestation between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
Therefore, as a country, we need to be proud that finally, we have a bill that will strengthen our democracy.
We have, however, always witnessed politicians change parties and even run as Independent as soon as they lose in the primaries. This will end.
The new Bill states that a person may be expelled from a party if he or she contravenes any provisions of the Constitution of a political party, in this case prohibiting party hopping.
There are other significant value adds of this Bill such as the requirement for a party to submit an asset and expenditure declaration to the Registrar of Political Parties.
The declaration gives details of all assets and expenditure, including all contributions, donations or pledges of contributions or donations, whether in cash or in kind, made or to be made to the initial assets of the political party by its founding members in respect of the first year of its existence. This, to a large extent, will help regulate parties.
In conclusion, despite the theatrics and ugly scenes witnessed in the House, its pros outweigh the cons. We are just about to witness a greater shift in our political culture.
I support any law that prevents our country from political contestations along tribal lines. BY THE STAR