A member of The Equitable Party (TEP) has moved to the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal seeking to stop the Linda Mwananchi Movement’s National Delegates Conference scheduled for Friday, November 13.
Emmanuel Willyngtone Khamala wants the tribunal to suspend the meeting until his application is heard and determined. He argues that the party’s current leadership was appointed without following the procedures set out in its constitution.
In his petition, Khamala claims the officials were picked without elections or the involvement of registered party members. He has also questioned plans to have the leadership ratified during the conference.
The petitioner has raised concerns about how delegates expected to attend the meeting were selected. He argues that grassroots elections have not been held to establish legitimate branch and county structures.
He is asking the tribunal to declare the current leadership illegally constituted and stop it from carrying out its duties until elections are conducted.
The Linda Mwananchi Movement, however, has defended its preparations for the conference, saying only designated delegates from TEP members registered by the time the meeting was announced will be allowed to attend.
In a statement released on Thursday, the movement indicated that each county has a designated number of delegates, which were calculated depending on the number of registered members in the respective county and which should be adhered to.
The 13th November conference is set to endorse a name change and pass other resolutions that would facilitate the official transition from the TEP to the Linda Mwananchi Movement.
This latest petition is part of the string of cases that have emerged following Senator Edwin Sifuna’s attempt to set up the political organization.
Previously, the movement encountered an issue with the Registrar of Political Parties because of the similarity between its preferred name and that of a similar political organization named LINDA.
The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal had nullified this decision and ordered that the office review the application allowing the movement to continue with its name registration process.
Nyaga James Onyango Nyangor had brought another suit against the planned election in the conference on the grounds that it did not meet the minimum requirement of 21-day notice.
Paul Kiragu Gachoka and Pamela Achieng Simwata have also objected to the conference program, delegates appointment and constitutional amendments.
The tribunal’s decision on Khamala’s application will determine whether the conference can proceed as planned amid the ongoing disagreements over the party’s leadership and transition.
