Amani National Congress party leader Musalia Mudavadi has accused President Uhuru Kenyatta of plotting to defeat multi-party democracy.
Mudavadi in a statement on Tuesday also wondered if Uhuru had forsaken the Constitution he swore to protect and defend.
His remarks follows the President’s announcement on Monday that already, nine political parties have dissolved and will merge to form the monolith Jubilee Party in a month’s time.
The parties to be dissolved include Uhuru's TNA, William Ruto's URP, JAP, APK, UDF, New Ford Kenya, Ford People, UPK, PNU, Republican Council, TIP TIP and GNU.
But the ANC leaders said the formation of Jubilee party was motivated and driven by nostalgia for a single party system.It would appear the President is working to claw back on the Constitution of Kenya in Article 4(2) which is unmistakable that Kenya is a multi-party democracy State."
"ANC opens its doors to all those aspiring for leadership and believe in the cardinal principal of multi-party democracy. Any deviation from this republican commitment of a multiparty State can only be aimed at reverting the country to single party rule. The Constitution does not provide for a variation either nor for substitution for a duo-poly of two parties as some have even suggested. In any case democracy cannot be divisible and varied in doses," he added.
He said the planned merger leaves many questions unanswered."Is the Jubilee Party registered or will it be registered upon dissolution of other parties? If the party is already registered – a position disputed by the Registrar of Political Parties – then other parties can only be dissolving to merge with it. If the party is not registered, then how are parties dissolving into nothing?" posed Mudavadi.
The former deputy prime minister said there is no indication that the dissolving parties have followed due process in the Political Parties Act of holding delegates congresses to endorse decisions of a few individuals.
He said this would no doubt result in many court cases, and asked Kenyans to be wary and on guard warning that this could be the beginning of life presidential terms.
“This is why there are illegalities being committed, the law being circumvented and flouted with impunity in the formation of Jubilee Party under guidance of the President. It is abuse of office whether the President is oblivious or complicit in this.”
"A more dangerous suggestion is that IEBC will be recruited into internal affairs of Jubilee. This is an invitation for the IEBC to begin meddling in internal affairs of political parties and conversely be compromised. An IEBC that is indebted to a political party cannot be independent," Mudavadi said in a statement sent to newsrooms.
Mudavadi held that the proposal is in jest rather than a formal commitment because IEBC as currently constituted lacks capacity to conduct nominations for political parties let alone carry out a national election. Aspirants on Jubilee are therefore being given false hope.
"In any case, this proposal is diversionary. All efforts should be geared towards reconstituting an IEBC with capacity to conduct free, fair and credible elections and not to snoop in party internal affairs," Mudavadi accuses President Uhuru of ruining multi-party democracy by dissolving 9 political parties to merge into Jubilee Party, says ANC.
He asked Kenyans who believe in the Constitution and are ready to defend it to stand guard against wicked plots to defile it by Jubilee government.