The Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD-Kenya), with the funding support from Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), convened a two-day high level consultative workshop at Stoni Athi Resort, Machakos County, with the Taskforce that is formulating the party primaries policy and legal framework.
The overall objective of the engagement was to offer an opportunity for the Taskforce, political parties’ as well as religious leaders’ representatives to discuss and concretize the various policy proposals towards finalizing the political party primaries policy and legal framework.
The process will have a direct positive impact on Kenya’s political and democratic landscape given the importance role political party primaries play in the country’s electoral cycle. They provide the mechanism in which political party members are availed an opportunity to participate in the country’s democracy by feely choosing the candidates that best reflects their beliefs and ideologies.
Despite their importance, the conduct of political party primaries in Kenya has been shambolic, always laced with strong undertones of nepotisms, discrimination and corruption; lack of preparedness and lack of dispute resolution mechanisms to address grievances that arise from the exercise.
The proposed framework will contribute towards ensuring inclusive processes and realization of the right to political choices as provided for in Article 38(3)(b) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010. CMD-Kenya shall sustain this conversation through inter-and intra-party dialogues to ensure broader buy in, support and its actualization.