The Nakuru High Court has ruled that Section 14 of the Political Parties Act, which requires sitting MCAs who switch political parties to resign within 180 days of the date of the General Election, is unconstitutional.
Chief Justice Martha Koome convened a three-judge bench led by Justices Joel Ngugi, Hillary Chemitei, and Teresia Matheka to hear a petition filed by Kabazi MCA Dr Peter Mbae, and determined that Section 14 of the Political Parties Act violates Articles 194, 101, and 38 of the Constitution.
“To the extent that that miss-alignment exists, the interpretation assigned to Article 194 (1)(e) by Section 14 of the Political Parties Act is not aligned with Articles 4(2); 10; 19; 20 and 38 of the Constitution,” read part of the report.
The judges issued orders prohibiting county and national assembly speakers from declaring vacant the seats of MCAs who switched from one party to another.
MCAs who left their sponsoring parties and became independent, as well as those who became independent and then joined a political party, are also covered by the order.
In February 2022, Dr. Mbar sought orders to prevent sitting MCAs who had switched parties from losing their seats ahead of the August 9 General Election.
His action came in response to a communication from Nakuru County Speaker Joel Kairu informing members of the House who had expressed interest in contesting on various political outfits that the sponsoring outfit required them to not only resign from their sponsoring parties but also lose their current position.
He argued that Section 14 of the Political Parties Act, which aims to promote democracy and party discipline, is constitutionally deficient because it makes no provisions for unique circumstances that arise during the transition period of an election cycle.
He sued the Registrar of Political Parties, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the Attorney General, and the speakers of all 47 county assemblies.
The Chief Justice referred the case to Justice Koome in April.
Dr. Mbae, a fervent supporter of Deputy President William Ruto who defected from the Jubilee party, which had sponsored him to the county assembly in 2017, was unable to secure the nomination of the United Democratic Alliance party to run for the Subukia parliamentary seat.
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