Reprieve for Booker Ngesa Omole as tribunal suspends his ouster as CPK secretary
Embattled Communist Party of Kenya (CPK) national organizing secretary Booker Ngesa Omole has gotten a reprieve after a tribunal suspended his expulsion from the political outfit pending the determination of a dispute challenging his ouster.
The ruling rendered by the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal also barred Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu from making changes in the membership register and records of the party regarding Omole's expulsion.
"Pending the hearing and determination of the application, interim orders are hereby issued staying the decision of the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties to alter the records and membership register of the Communist Party of Kenya (CPK) to indicate that Omole has been expelled from the party," the tribunal chaired by lawyer Desma Nungo ordered.
The orders were issued after Omole through lawyer Micheal Anjili challenged the decision by an opposing faction to expel him from the party.
He informed the tribunal that the registrar of political parties has since effected changes regarding the decision to expel him from the party.
In his suit papers, Omole argues the purported expulsion is fatally defective and flawed since the disciplinary proceedings were not conducted in strict compliance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Communist Party of Kenya.
According to Omole, the expulsion decision was carried out despite a formal petition lodged by his lawyer over the propriety of the disciplinary proceedings, which protest was not addressed by the registrar prior to allowing the expulsion.
"There is neither evidence that the disciplinary proceedings against Omole were initiated properly, nor is there any evidence or information on how the Disciplinary Committee was constituted," lawyer Anjili told the tribunal.
The proceedings took place in March 2023 in Wundanyi, he said.
Omole said the disciplinary proceedings amounted to a recall which was reserved for party members in a national congress to revoke his election.
"The disciplinary proceedings were conducted over a National Leader at County Level contrary to the Constitution of the Communist Party of Kenya and the disciplinary proceedings amount to a recall of Omole as a leader in the Communist Party of Kenya," Anjili says.
"As a national leader, I could only be disciplined at the level which I operated being the national level, yet I was being summoned to county headquarters in Wundanyi which have never been the Party Headquarters or a national office of the party. I had not been provided with minutes of the meeting of the Central Committee adopting a list of offences against me and appointing a neutral disciplinary committee," Omole explained.
The lawyer said the registrar's decision to allow Omole's and to alter the party membership register offends his client's rights to information, fair hearing and fair administrative action.
"The registrar’s decision violated Omole's right to a fair hearing and the right to fair administrative action having made without addressing the protest formally raised over the propriety of the disciplinary proceedings by his Advocate," reads the suit papers.
Further, Omole faults the registrar's decision terming it as premature, having been made prior to completion of the internal dispute resolution mechanisms of the Communist Party of Kenya.
Omole has attributed his troubles to comments made by the party's Young Communist League last year in condemning leaders who contravened the party position during the electioneering period.
"Over a number of days leading up to, and after the general elections, various leaders in the party, in contravention of the party’s interests and were condemned widely by various organs of the party including the Young Communist League that forms a bulk of the youthful membership of the party.
"These activities were condemned on the Party’s official communication channels which were the responsibility of the Secretary-General, but regardless, the leaders sought to initiate disciplinary proceedings against me over activities on these communication channels," he stated.
The tribunal, however, certified the case urgent and directed the Registrar and the CPK to file their responses within seven days.
The matter will be heard on June 26, 2023.
