The Registrar of Political Parties has dealt Ford-Kenya party leader Moses Wetang’ula another blow after nullifying the decision to take disciplinary action against two MPs for misconduct.
The decision was arrived at after the embattled Bungoma senator had chaired a meeting of the party’s parliamentary group (PG) and the National Executive Council (NEC).
They decided to suspended secretary-general Eseli Simiyu and Kanduyi MP Wafula Wamunyinyi for gross violation of its constitution.
This was after the two were accused of orchestrating an unsuccessful coup against the party’s leadership on May 31, 2020.
But in a preliminary ruling, Registrar Anne Nderitu declared that the PG and NEC that suspended the duo was not properly convened and lacked a quorum.
Nderitu further noted that Wetang’ula’s team did not submit to her office the statutory form PP7, used to notify the registrar of changes in party officials.
The latest developments mean the senator will have to call another NEC and PG to ratify the changes before resubmitting them.
However, the embattled senator’s team said it was still in control of the party.
Simiyu’s team, on the other hand, said the registrar only asked them to rectify a small anomaly, a missing signature, in the PP7 form they had filed.
The registrar reviewed Wamunyinyi’s submission against relevant laws including the Political Parties Act (PPA), Ford Kenya Constitution and records of the party in their possession.
“You are kindly guided to address the issue highlighted above within the precincts of your party constitution and in line with section 20 of PPA and apprise us on the same,” she said.
Wetang’ula’s camp on Thursday, June 4, secured an early win in the tussle for the control of Ford Kenya after the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties said the ‘coup’ in the party had ‘gaps’.
Wetangula was kicked out as Ford Kenya party leader after a decision was arrived at on Sunday, May 31, during the party’s special NEC meeting at Nairobi’s Radisson Blu Hotel.
He was accused of gross misconduct and failing to champion unity in the party and also failing to reconcile warring members to eliminate friction in the party.
