Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi's political parties have been dealt a blow in their plans to ditch Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party.
This is after the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) declined to honour their requests to leave the Azimio amid the disquiet.
The Registrar of Political Parties Ann Nderitu informed officials of Maendeleo Chap Chap and Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) that the Azimio coalition agreement bars them from exiting until they meet the conditions for withdrawal.
“Your attention is drawn to the provisions of the Third Schedule to the PPA (Political Parties Act) and the Azimio coalition agreement that stipulate the procedure for a party to either join or exit the coalition,” Nderitu stated.
“Azimio is already a registered coalition political party in terms of Section 7(7) of the Political Parties Act, 2011 and the Political Parties (Registration) Regulation, 2019, hence the Registrar has no mandate to sanction the withdrawal as per your request, save for where due process outlined in the coalition agreement has been followed.”
The Azimio coalition agreement indicates that no constituent party can leave the coalition for at least a year. Neither party can exit the coalition at least six months before the August 9 General Election.
Any member of the Azimio coalition who intends to leave will only be competent to exit at least three months after the elections.
“No party may withdraw from the coalition six months before the August 2022 General Election or within three months after the date of the said General Election,” the agreement states in Article 22 under the heading ‘Withdrawal of Parties’.
Further, member parties who desire to leave can only do so after giving a 90-days notice to the Coalition Council.
Kingi had earlier confirmed that he wrote to the RPP seeking to exit the coalition, which he accused of leaving them in the dark.
“The PAA NEC in a meeting held on 25th April 2022 resolved that the ratification of the agreement signed on 5th April 2022 be and is hereby declined. Despite signing the agreement 20 days ago, no copies have been supplied,” PAA stated in a statement.
The governor has since downplayed reports that he is headed to the Kenya Kwanza team, led by the deputy president William Ruto.
