Should ODM have National Delegates Council or County level nominations?

ODM party leader Raila Odinga and his deputy Musalia Mudavadi  PHOTO/Courtesy  

At last the Orange Democratic Party has submitted their registration and the contentious old constitution at the registrar of political parties.

The party’s delegation led by Prof Anyang Nyong’o the Secretary General was received by the registrar Lucy Ndung’u albeit with the amendments championed by Musalia Mudavadi being left out.

According to Nyong’o and the party’s National Executive council (NEC) the party had agreed to change the clause which gives the party leader a direct presidential nomination and check how the choice of the presidential aspirant be done at Kasarani or county level.

As the party still grapple with their ‘internal democracy’ over this issue sober considerations should be taken after checking out the views from both sides, PM and Party Leader Raila’s and DPM and Deputy Party Leader Mudavadi’s.

According to proponents of the county method, ODM was the first party in the country to bring about the call of devolution which was the main issue that delayed the current constitution to be passed and was a major issue in the referendum vote that ushered it in.

This leaders led by Shinyalu MP Justus Kizito, Funyula MP and Minister of Youths and Sports Paul Otuoma, and Khamisi Mp and  Information Assistant Minister   He added that devolution was brought by ODM in the constitution as they should not leave George Khaniri see devolution as “ODM’s ‘baby’ which should not be dropped now”.

They also want more delegates, 60, to be involved in the voting process while at Kasarani there is a likelihood of about 20 from the 47 counties in the country to be locked because, according to Khaniri, “time used for voting and travelling will take about four days with some delegates from far counties unable to make it. The county elections the over seen by the IEBC will increase party participation”.

Their biggest boast, and what is not seen by people supporting Raila, is that flawed nominations will risk the party losing candidates. Candidates like Makadara MP Mike ‘Sonko’ Mbuvi, POA’ s Raphael Tuju amongst others left the party over flawed elections.

Khaniri gave the example of how KANU broke down when former president Daniel Arap Moi endorsed Uhuru Kenyatta as the 2002 presidential candidate. At KANU’s Kasarani delegates meeting it was common of MP’s to come with their delegates only to be told their ‘registered’ members were already in.

 “Nominations were the biggest change in the past elections as ODM members who felt slighted by the nomination process left and ended up winning in other parties” Kizito said adding that as Raila supporters are afraid of their man slighted so is the feeling in Mudavadi camp which has to be addressed adequately.

Lastly, they say by giving the presidential candidate ticket to the party leader directly there is fear of locking out other aspirants from carrying their constitutional right. By changing the rules it will check the clause in future.

Meanwhile, Raila’s camp sees the call of  change in this dying parts of the campaign as a suspect for other defectors and his opponents to use Mudavadi as a Trojan horse to wreck the ‘most popular party in the country’ from within.

As most opponents are fighting Raila there is fear of using ‘professional delegates’ from former ODM stronghold turned risky like Rift Valley and Central/ Eastern to push Mudavadi’s supporters in the ballot.

The two have taken a middle ground on the use of IEBC to officiate the voting, but this fear in Raila’s camp is so real with the fear of ‘anti-reformers’ and ‘KANU’s orphans’ ganging up

“We are lucky for ODM to have given birth to ‘twins’, but there is risk of the two bringing the party to its knees especially as their feud is seen as a war and not democracy. This poor image goes on to make defectors to gloat over the party and find a way to wreck it from within” A delegate in Migori said when Mudavadi made a stop in the county, his 41st.

Manuel Odeny ©2012

IEBC: For fair elections Kenya, Africa still has a long way to go

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki votes in a general election

The quest to establish Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) which saw the interviewing of 44 and 8 commissioners and chair from 427 and 15 applicants respectively. The process was led by Dr Ekuro Aukot.

The commission will afterwards send for approval the commissioners to parliament and three recommended for the position of chair to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila who will later forward a name to legislature for further approval.

The major task of IEBC will be to run the first national and county elections in Kenya in a simple, secure and transparent manner to avoid a repeat of bloodshed and rigging which engulfed the country in 2007/08 violence.

Sadly although the process is laudable, Kenya and Africa still have a long way to go for fair elections that can promote democracy even after a century since the first country in the continent gained independence. During the process, the same cocktail of events that saw the now defunct Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) led by Samuel Kivuitu putting the country bin chaos is at play again.

Foremost in young democracies like Kenya electoral bodies are weak institutions backed by weak laws and judiciary which makes them prone to interference from politicians. The manner at which election tallying and counting was carried out at KICC and the aftermath avalanche of petitions showed this flaw.

This can be the case if legislations like Political Parties Act still not enacted prior to 2012 which will tie IEBC’s hand in regulating how parties elect candidates and how to settle elections disputes and petitions arising from results.

Equally, vested interests by politicians will risk causing havoc even before the new body is formed. Eldoret North MP William Ruto is leading a section of politicians who vow to vote against the team in parliament. On the other hand the debate of the exact date for next year general election is bound to raise political temperatures further.

Reading danger from these squabbles Koffi Annan, former UN Secretary General, and a member of Eminent Persons that bore the coalition government from 2007/08 violence has warned politicians from interfering with the process.

Lastly tribalism is a thorn to democracy with debate from some quarters observing that even though the gender equality was observed, 50% of some candidates were from one ‘region’ which doesn’t reflect ‘the face’ of Kenya.

These disputes coupled with impunity where violence suspects walk away with prosecution are some of the challenges facing democracy and electoral bodies like IEBC not only in Kenya but also in Africa.