TNA barred from Jubilee merger after lawmaker complained

This is after a TNA lawmaker, Narok North National Assembly representative Moitalel ole Kenta, challenged the merger on the grounds that Party Leader President Uhuru Kenyatta risks losing his seat should he change parties/FILE

This is after a TNA lawmaker, Narok North National Assembly representative Moitalel ole Kenta, challenged the merger on the grounds that Party Leader President Uhuru Kenyatta risks losing his seat should he change parties.

Ole Kenta through lawyer Titus Koceyo told the Tribunal on Thursday that while the Political Parties Act was clear under section 11(7) that Members of Parliament and County Assemblies would retain their seats should they change parties on occasion of a merger, the Presidency and Governors did not enjoy the same level of certainty.

He also accused the TNA officials of pursuing the merger without the involvement and endorsement of the wider membership which he contended went contrary to the party’s regulations.

“What is being peddled around are declarations of the National Oversight Board under TNA which represents a handful of members and are not a true depiction of majority of its members,” he told the tribunal.

Ole Kenta told the tribunal that should they fail to urgently grant the interim orders sought, the party would dissolve in two days time.

The tribunal has therefore issued interim orders preventing any such dissolution and merger before January 28 when it will again give audience to the complainant and other parties.

Following a State House meeting on Tuesday however, it was understood that the parties set to merge into the Jubilee Party would hold their National Delegate Conferences in February to ratify the planned merger before a “grand launch” in March.

“From here, we are moving to the counties to roll out the county programs from January next year and invite the public to participate in forming the county systems. These meetings will educate the party officers at the count level on the new party structure and give the public proper information about the new party. We shall also be targeting to dilute the past fears and reservations of our supporters in the grass root,” it was resolved at the State House meet.

About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

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