This archive report was first published on 5 January 2022.
January 5, 2022 - Nairobi, Kenya - The move by Garissa Township MP Aden Duale to delete the clause on timelines for the formation of coalitions before a general election was defeated in the National Assembly.
Out of 232 MPs who voted, 128 rejected the amendment while 104 voted in favor of it.
Those in support of the amendment argued that there should be no timelines for parties to form coalitions.
Clause 8b of the Political Parties Amendment Bill of 2021 proposed that coalitions by political parties submit their coalition agreement at least six months before a general election.
Majority Leader Amos Kimunya, who sponsored the bill, opposed the amendment, stating that coalitions need to be registered with the Registrar of Political Parties to avoid scenarios of betrayals and misunderstandings.
“We need to have timelines when coalition agreement is being formed for the general information of the public. So that everyone knows what is going on in the coalition so that we don’t have surprises. We must defeat this amendment so that in this era of transparency so that every agreement is lodged with the registrar of political parties,” said Kimunya.
