Two Ford-K MPs shown the door

The Ford-Kenya leadership dispute yesterday took a new turn after a meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC), led by Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula, (pictured) expelled three legislators from the party.

The party expelled Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi, his Tongaren counterpart Eseli Simiyu and nominated Ward Rep Cynthia Mutere.

The trio however downplayed the decision by the executive as a “farce”.

Mr Wetang’ula is fighting to maintain his grip of the lion party leadership following an attempted coup instigated by his then Secretary General Eseli on May 31.

Yesterday, the NEC and Ford-Kenya Parliamentary Group members met to seal the fate of the trio for breaching party constitution. “The NEC has recommended they are expelled,” read a statement signed by the party’s acting Secretary General Millicent Abudho.

The wrangles in Ford-Kenya have split the party into two factions; one led by Wetang’ula and the other by Mr Wamunyinyi.

Wetang’ula said the three had brought upheavals in the party and “removing the few bad apples was the best decision” the party made towards the 2022 elections.

“We’d rather have fewer members who follow the party constitution than many who do not toe the line,” said Wetang’ula, adding: “They chose a path and choices have consequences.”

The party’s action opens the door for the trio to lose their seats should  their names be presented to the Registrar of Political Parties for action and their expulsion ratified.

Wamunyinyi, Eseli and Mutere however said they were unperturbed by the said decision and asked their constituents and supporters to ignore the “purported dismissal”.

They argued that a meeting to make such a decision could only be convened by the Secretary General, and since Eseli did not call the meeting, any resolution reached was void. “The NEC has 75 members and 46 of them are on our side. To have a quorum you need half of the members a criteria they did not meet,” Wamunyinyi said.

Eseli said Wetang’ula was not “fit to lead a party, especially through a turbulent period of transition elections”.

In Kisumu, National Elections Council members drawn from 12 Western counties dismissed Wetang’ula’s move. Led by Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati, the NEC members termed the move a public relations stunt to be ignored.

The NEC meeting at a Nairobi hotel that expelled the trio could come a cropper as the Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu, on August 14, advised the party against holding such meetings on account of existence of a court case. Political gatherings also go against Covid-19 control protocols.