Kenya Leader Orders Ban on New Parties

An order by Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi to prohibit the registration of new political parties has sparked outrage among opposition politicians and civil rights activists, who accuse him of an illegal move that promotes dictatorship.

The directive, which was issued over the weekend and requires ratification by parliament, bans new parties associated with current members of parliament.

It targets a group of youthful renegades in Moi’s ruling Kenya African National Union, or KANU, and opposition politicians who together have formed the new United Democratic Movement.

Analysts said Moi, who has ruled Kenya for more than 20 years and is only the second president since the country’s independence from Britain in 1963, fears that the fledgling party could seriously erode his power base by luring members of the ruling party. They said this could even lead to his removal from office prior to the official end of his term in 2002.

A vote of no confidence in the government failed in October but is scheduled to be reintroduced in the spring. The political strength of the new, joint movement could be enough to oust the government.

If that occurred, Moi probably would be forced to resign and parliament probably would be dissolved.

However, if parliament approves the directive, critics said it would be a serious blow to Kenya’s progress toward democratization and would further tarnish the government’s poor track record for political fair play.

“It’s unconstitutional, and it’s illegal,” said Willy Mutunga, executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission.

Kipruto Arap Kirwa, a principal member of the United Democratic Movement who voted for last year’s no-confidence motion, called the president’s order “the height of political dishonesty and an emasculation of freedoms of associations, beliefs and thought enshrined in the constitution.”

The country’s registrar-general, not the president, is legally empowered to determine whether a party is registered. But Moi, who gave the order while addressing a local peace rally Saturday, said legislators should obey and respect the policies of the political parties on whose tickets they had been elected.

According to local newspapers that covered the speech, Moi also criticized members of parliament “who keep jumping from one party to another like ticks.”

Critics blame Moi, 74, for Kenya’s steady demise. The economy is in a slump, the infrastructure has crumbled to its worst state since independence, and thefts of public funds and other financial scandals have crushed investor confidence. Now, opponents say, Moi is up to his old tricks of political manipulation.

Mutunga, the human rights lawyer, said Moi wants to intimidate the opposition within his ruling party.

In the past, Moi has been skilled at fragmenting the opposition in an effort to dilute any challenge to his rule. But some local analysts believe that because the new movement consists primarily of insiders from the ruling party, it might be able to avoid being splintered.

Said Gibson Kamau Kuria, a respected constitutional lawyer: “If this political party will be registered, it will get the support of many KANU [members of parliament], and [Moi’s] hold on power will be seriously endangered.”

Disaffection in KANU has been rife, with Moi’s failure to nominate a vice president--and thus his favored successor--fueling competition and division.

Younger members of parliament, aware that Moi’s fifth term in office legally must be his last, no longer feel the need to rely on the political patronage and financial gain associated with being a member of the ruling party.

Unlike veteran politicians, who have cowered in Moi’s shadow for the last two decades, they are less fearful of criticizing the policies of the ruling establishment.

The new United Democratic Movement is being touted as a unifying force for those disaffected with existing parties.