NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 27- Three members of the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal (PPDT) were on Wednesday sworn in at a ceremony presided over by Chief Justice Martha Koome.
Koome called on the members to discharge their duties without fear, favor or prejudice.
The 7-member tribunal is now fully constituted following the swearing-in of Wilfred Mutubwa, Trizah Chepkemei and Kiragu Gathu who will serve for a period of 6 years.
The three were appointed by Koome on September 29, after being nominated by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) which conducted interviews.
Koome called on the new members and the tribunal at large to assure Kenyans that the resolution of the political grievances that may arise from the 2022 General Elections are safe in their hands and Justice will be delivered.
“Political Parties Dispute Tribunal is intended to be a democracy enhancing institution thus Kenyans expect you to work towards the realization of the goal of strengthening our constitutional democracy through the resolution of political disputes that arise before, during and after elections, in a just and expeditious manner,’’ Koome said.
She further urged them to always be mindful of the principles of the Constitution and bear in mind the history of contested elections in the past and the consequences it led to.
“We need to build confidence of the Kenyans that we have systems and structures in place to guarantee that anybody with a grievance can be heard and responded to with a fair and just judgment,” CJ Koome urged.
The chairperson of the PPDT Desma Nungo pointed out that the tribunal is well prepared for the elections and that it has been working on building public trust and ensuring that their judgement of political disputes is not marred with favoritism or corruption
“We have identified the weak areas that we may have and we can assure that we are keen on building on the integrity of the PPDT as an institution knowing too well the crucial role we are playing with a view of seeing to it that the country undertakes a credible election,” she said.
The tribunal is established under Section 39 of Political Parties Act No 11 of 2011.
It hears and determines disputes arising out of Political Parties’ affairs.
Section 40 of the Political Parties Act 2011, provides for the categories of disputes that shall be determined by the PPDT including, disputes between members of a political party, disputes between a member of a political party and a political party, disputes between political parties, disputes between an independent candidate and a political party, disputes between coalition partners, appeals from decisions of the Registrar under this Act and disputes arising out of party primaries.
The tribunal has 7 members who operate on a part-time basis and a quorum is 3 members of which, one must be an Advocate.
Kenya is set to hold the general election next year in August 9 and political temperatures are already high with politicians traversing various parts of the country to sell their agenda to the electorates.
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