President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party suffered a setback yesterday after a tribunal ruled that the Party of National Unity (PNU) was not part of the Jubilee coalition.
The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal yesterday nullified PNU’s merger with Jubilee Party, saying it was irregularly done.
The development is viewed as a big win for Meru Governor Peter Munya who was to be installed as the party’s new leader before the merger controversy emerged.
Mr Munya refused to join Jubilee Party after Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi, who served as Jubilee Party’s National Steering Committee chairman before the merger, said PNU had committed to dissolve and join the new coalition.
Documents from the Registrar of Political Parties, however, show PNU had been registered as an independent party.
READ MORE
From allies to adversaries: UhuRuto's betrayal politics
Kindiki will be the voice of reason in government
Why forgotten Mau Mau songs are resounding across the mountain
Uhuru Kenyatta: I hold no grudges and ill will against anybody
LONE RANGER
Mr Kiraitu is challenging Mr Munya for the governor’s seat in next year’s elections. With the new development, Munya is now expected to vie on a PNU ticket.
Following the ruling yesterday, an elated Munya said he had been vindicated regarding his claim that John Kamama, the former party chairman, was a “lone ranger acting at the behest of outside forces” in declaring that the party had folded and joined Jubilee.
“Justice has been served. I thank the tribunal for upholding the law and declaring the merger fraudulent. We are now holding our heads high as we march to our national delegates’ congress on Friday,” said Munya.
Asked whether he was worried about a speculated petition to the Registrar of Political Parties to dissolve the party on the basis that for five years it had not filed returns, a confident Munya said he had checked the party’s records and confirmed that it had complied.
He said any other attempts to dissolve the party that propelled retired President Mwai Kibaki into power would be challenged in court.
“Even if a party failed to file returns, fair administrative practice demands that the party be given notice to comply. So when that notice has not been issued, it is relative easy to argue that the court should reject an attempt to recommend dissolution,” said the governor.
JUBILEE BIGWIGS
The tribunal’s decision did not go down well with some Jubilee bigwigs including Kiraitu, who termed the ruling “a travesty of justice”.
“Former PNU members currently in Jubilee are dissatisfied with the ruling and we will immediately appeal to ensure that justice is served. PNU followed every process and eventually merged with the other parties,” he said.
The tribunal, led by lawyer Kyalo Mbobu, noted that Registrar of Political Parties Lucy Ndung’u had gazetted PNU’s dissolution to the new Jubilee outfit before the party’s national delegates’ conference was held to discuss if it would fold or not.
The finding by the tribunal means PNU remains an autonomous party.
According to the tribunal, PNU delegates were scheduled to meet on September 9 to discuss whether they wanted to join Jubilee, but the registrar gazetted that the party had dissolved a day earlier.
The tribunal also found that Ms Ndung’u had ignored its orders, which had blocked PNU’s dissolution before settling the case filed by the party’s Secretary General, John Anunda.
“We reject the respondent’s (Ndung’u) argument that her work was merely clerical. She ought to have first verified if the party had wrangles before gazetting the changes,” said Mr Mbobu.
“The dissolution of PNU was subjudice since the case was in court. The respondent was aware of PNU wrangles and thus ought to have waited for the matter to be settled.”
