Editor's Review

Politicians allied to Deputy President William Ruto have said that they are willing to work with like-minded activists to challenge the Political Parties Amendment Bill 2021 in court.


Politicians allied to Deputy President William Ruto have said that they are willing to work with like-minded activists to challenge the Political Parties Amendment Bill 2021.

The lawmakers have termed the bill unconstitutional and are determined to fight it in the court of law.

The Bill was passed by the Senate on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, and assented in Law by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday, January 27.


The DP Ruto allies argued that some of the clauses in the bill infringed on the current provisions as stipulated by the Constitution. They highlighted clauses that they say are unconstitutional and usurp the powers of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

Clause 22, they argue, gives the Registrar of Political Parties sweeping powers to oversee nominations and provide a certified list of participants thus usurping the powers of the IEBC.

“We shall go to court. Either we shall go as a party or urge civic-minded activists to do so. Our main concern is Clause 22, which grants (the Registrar of Political Parties) powers to manage parties' registers and nominations,” Murang’a Senator Irung’u Kang'ata told the Nation.

Kang'ata stated that the bill only proposes one type of nominations and thus subverts democracy.

“We have closed and open nominations. Open nominations allow non-members to participate in party primaries. Closed nominations are the opposite,” he explained.

“Good democracies leave the issues of choosing either open or closed (nominations) to parties. This new law will make Kenya use exclusively ‘closed primaries," he added.

Kang'ata argued that the bill embeds polarisation as parties will nominate ‘radicals which will, in turn, destabilise the political divide.

Bomet Senator Christopher Langat said that the Political Parties Amendment Bill 2021 is discriminatory and the DP’s side will challenge it in court.

“We are set to meet and agree on the nitty-gritty as we build our case so that the moment it is signed into law, we are ready to be in the corridors of justice,” he said.