Azimio La Umoja coalition allied politicians have been defecting to Kenya Kwanza in what is seen as aligning with the ruling party even before the swearing in ceremony of recently elected leaders takes place.
This follows the August 9 General Election aftermath in which Kenya Kwanza's boss, William Samoei Ruto, was declared the president-elect by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
According to nominated Senator Sylvia Kasanga, Members of Parliament-elect, their senatorial, MCA and Woman Rep counterparts, have been defecting because they are likely to have easy access to resources and can easily push for developments in their regions should Ruto be sworn in as President.
"There is access to resources and you can push for road projects in the area you represent and you also have direct contact with he Executive," Kasanga explained.
Kasanga added that the ruling party offers more privileges and opportunities than the opposition, adding that politicians usually want to see areas they represent served well.
She noted that a ruling party will always take the Speaker of the National Assembly seat and the occupier of this seat will push for Bills in Parliament and offer the party's Legislators easy access to the Executive.
Currently, Kenya Kwanza coalition has more Legislators in the National Assembly with 161 MPs against Azimio's 159.
The 2010 Constitution states that one can become a Speaker of National Assembly after garnering the endorsement of at least two-thirds or 233 of the 349 members of the National Assembly.
It further states that if no candidate attains the threshold in the first round of vote, the one with a simple majority in the second round of voting wins.
Despite the defections, however, Azimio still holds ground to form a simple majority in Parliament if the agreement establishing it is to be followed.
According to Article 22 of the Deed of Agreement establishing Azimio la Umoja on Withdrawal of Parties, an affiliate party can only withdraw after giving a three-month notice. This would mean that the United Democratic Movement (UDM) party which recently joined Kenya Kwanza was still an Azimio member.
Maendeleo Chap Chap (MCC) and Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) led by outgoing governors Alfred Mutua and Amason Kingi respectively, are also Azimio members as per this deed.
The bids by MCC and PAA to leave Azimio was blocked by the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) that asked the two outfits to exhaust internal dispute resolution mechanisms before exiting the coalition.
Kasanga, however, warned that the wave poses a huge risk to politicians because they might fail to deliver to their voters based on campaign pledges they made to win the seats.
"When you get to the other side of political divide, then you disregard what it is that you campaigned on," she added.
