How Kenya Kwanza Aims to ‘Crush’ Raila’s Azimio: Secretive Alterations to Senate Bills Target Opposition Party
Unexpected alterations to the report from Bomas talks, scheduled for introduction in the Senate, have exposed a covert plan targeting the opposition party.
Gossipa2z.com found that President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza faction had a hidden agenda to alter the National Dialogue Committee (Nadco) report, aiming to eliminate coalition political parties.
This move could have been detrimental to Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition party.
The plan also involved altering the election process and the way results are transmitted.
In an attempt to undermine Azimio, the majority introduced the revised Bills in the Senate, but the minority intervened at the last minute to pause the debate, averting a potential political upheaval.
The contentious Bills, introduced as part of a bipartisan approach led by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah and Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi, included amendments to the Political Parties Bill, Elections Bill, and Elections Offences Bill, all set for 2024.
The first amendment aimed to eliminate the term “coalition political party” from the Political Parties Act, of 2022.
Rights and privileges
Senate Minority Leader Stewart Madzayo warned that passing the amendment would strip Azimio of its legal status, rights, and privileges.
“Azimio is the only coalition political party in the country, and removing the term would directly target Azimio. If the Bill passed as is, Azimio would have ceased to exist,” he stated.
To prevent Azimio’s revival, the majority side tried to remove sections of the Act related to the formation, registration, and governance of coalition political parties.
The amendments also proposed deleting the requirement for a coalition political party to submit a coalition agreement to the Registrar of Political Parties.
The minority leader warned this could nullify the Azimio coalition agreement made before the 2022 elections.
“It’s concerning to see such tactics being used today. If we’re serious about democracy, such actions shouldn’t occur,” said the Kilifi senator.
“If these underhanded changes had succeeded, it could have led to national turmoil. The person responsible for the changes should face legal consequences,” he added.
On the Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2024, the majority side inserted a new section after Section 38, allowing the electoral commission to designate vehicles or vessels as polling stations.
The amendment aimed to empower the Commission to assign places as polling stations for each electoral area.
Further changes removed the phrase “prescribed form” from the clause on result transmission after declaration at polling stations.
The revised Section 39(4)(b) of the amended Act, 2016, requires the IEBC to electronically transmit results for presidential elections within two hours of the declaration from a polling station to the constituency tallying center, national tallying center, candidates or their observers, and election observers.
Confronted them
“When we challenged them, they acknowledged the discrepancies in the Nadco report,” said Mr. Madzayo.
“We want the report to pass as is, without alterations. Why force us back to protest? The late President Kibaki advised intelligent methods if one must rig,” he added.
Speaker Amason Kingi halted the Bills’ progress in his May 2 statement to the House, urging consensus before reintroducing them.
The former Kilifi governor stated that the House Business Committee addressed the issue on April 30, agreeing on necessary corrections per the Nadco report.
“In light of this, I instruct that further consideration of the three Bills be paused for corrections,” Speaker Kingi declared.
He added: “The Clerk’s Office must coordinate with the Senate Majority Leader and Senate Minority Leader to correct and republish the Bills for Senate introduction.”
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This decision followed Senator Madzayo’s complaint to Speaker Kingi about the Bills’ content and his call for their immediate withdrawal.
In an April 22 letter, the Kilifi senator noted that the Bills contained clauses that were significantly different from the Nadco report’s original content, approved by both Houses of Parliament.
He requested the cancellation of the call for memoranda submissions on the Bills and prompt publication of the original Nadco report Bills. Mr. Madzayo shared with Gossipa2z.com that he discussed the majority’s attempted “trickery” with his party leader.
But Senate Majority Whip Boni Khalwale dismissed concerns.
“There is nothing suspicious. We shouldn’t read too much into the situation,” stated the Kakamega senator.
How Kenya Kwanza Aims to ‘Crush’ Raila’s Azimio: Secretive Alterations to Senate Bills Target Opposition Party