The Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) on Friday, August 1, held a crisis meeting to deliberate on the petition to remove Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya as the party's deputy leader and expel him entirely.
This followed a petition filed on Thursday, July 31, by a party member seeking Natembeya's removal and accusing him of funding and promoting another political party, Conservation for Democracy in Kenya (COD-K), through proxies.
''Petition for the expulsion of the deputy party leader, & the Governor of Trans Nzoia, Hon. George Natembeya, for funding the registration and/or promotion of another political party known as Conservation for Democracy in Kenya (CoD-K) through proxies,'' the petition read in part.
In the crisis meeting held at the party's Headquarters in Karen, Nairobi, where Natembeya was absent, the party leadership acknowledged that, indeed, there was a serious dispute among party leaders.
Following the disputes, the party's National Management Committee referred all petitions to the Internal Dispute Resolution Mechanism (IDRM) for urgent handling.
“The IDRM will handle the matter urgently and to ensure the party activities continue uninterrupted for us to specifically concentrate on the upcoming by-elections,” the party SG said.
The party, which fielded Seth Panyako as its candidate in the Malava Constituency by-election, has asked its members to remain calm while it addresses the issues that have arisen.
“A National Executive Council shall be called soonest to appoint the disciplinary committee and start working to resolve the disputes between members of the party,” the leaders continued.
Speaking during the meeting, party leader Eugene Wamalwa maintained that the party remains democratic and that all disputes will be resolved transparently and peacefully.
On his part, Governor Natembeya refuted claims of disputes in the party, saying that there are only small differences, where he called for reforms within DAP-K, urging the party to rebrand and expand beyond Western Kenya.
“The small murmurs you are hearing are from DAP-K are about those who are conservative and those who want to be liberal and want to rebrand the party so that it is not only for Western Kenya, so that we have other voices. Politics is not about Western Kenya,” Natembeya said on Tuesday.
“That is the challenge that we have. Others are against opening the doors for other Kenyans to expand DAP-K, because we know it has potential,” the governor continued.
