NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 17 – The fight for Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party has morphed into a revenge battle with President William Ruto intent to take back the party he built with Kenyatta since 2017.
In 2020, President Ruto lost the battle to control the Jubilee Party after Kenyatta chased out his allies and totally edged him out of the succession matrix.
Having lost the tussle, the Head of State went ahead to form the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) which propelled him to Presidency in the 2022 polls.
But now, President Ruto is back on a payback onslaught to remove the individuals who dealt him a blow by snatching Jubilee Party from him and further risking his chances to clinch government.
The March 2018 handshake between Kenyatta and Odinga precipitated him losing the party that backed the latter in the August polls.
Ruto’s Revenge Plan:
Currently, daggers have been drawn with Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni squabbling to have the former ruling party remain in Azimio as the Director of Election Kanini Kega is fighting to have Jubilee shift to President Ruto’s camp.
The first strategy by President Ruto is to ouster Kenyatta from the party leadership in the event Kega’s faction will win the control of the party.
The Retired President will be forced to quit as the party leader as the political outfit will now join hands with Kenya Kwanza Alliance Camp emboldening the camp in Parliament and the political outlook.
Given Kenyatta’s political stand to stand by his preferred successor Raila Odinga who lost in the August poll to the tail end, he will be left with no option of either shaping in or out.
As the law stands, a retired President a retired President shall not hold office in any political party for more than six months after ceasing to hold office as President.
If he is to abide by the law, he will be left with no option than to resign from the political outfit losing in the battle to ensure that his political party remains in Azimio to further propel Odinga’s agenda to frustrate the Ruto’s administration.
His allies who include Kioni and Jubilee Party Vice Chairman David Murathe will also be hounded out of office in the same style that they pushed President Ruto out of the political vehicle.
For Murathe, its a fired battle as he had pledged to stop at nothing to block Ruto from succeeding retired President Uhuru.
The second strategy by President Ruto is to reclaim the party to be domained within the Kenya Kwanza Alliance once the National Delegation Convention ratifies the National Executive Committee decision to exit within six months.
This will mark the formal exit of Jubilee Party from Odinga’s influence and allow President Ruto to obtain external control of the political party he formed in 2017.
In two StateHouse visits, close to 32 Jubilee MPs broke ranks with the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya and joined hands with the President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
As the numbers stand, Jubilee Party has 29 MPs and four senators who will now boost his numbers in Parliament and make it seamless for him to push his agenda in the National Assembly and the Senate.
Ongoing Jubilee Tussle
At the moment, Kioni and Murathe can breathe a sigh of relief after the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT) temporarily set aside the resolution of the party’s national executive committee to suspend them as Secretary-General and National Vice-Chairman.
The tribunal’s Chairperson Desma Nungo said the stay order shall remain in place until the 24th of February when the matter shall be heard to confirm compliance and for further directions.
“Pending inter partes hearing and determination of the application, interim conservatory orders are hereby issued staying the Respondent’s decision communicated vide the letter dated 13th February 2023 to the effect that the (Jubilee Party NEC) meeting (held on 10th February 2023) was properly convened per the party constitution and further staying any consequential action by the Respondent towards effecting, adopting or ratifying the resolutions of the subject meeting,” read the Order.
The move comes a day after the Registrar of Political Parties ratified the Jubilee Party National Executive Committee (NEC) changes that kicked out Murathe, Kioni, and National Treasurer Kagwe Gichohi.
The new officials as a result appointed Eldas MP Adan Keynan as the acting Vice Chairperson, EALA MP Kanini Kega as the acting Secretary General, and Kitui Woman Representative Rachael Nyamai as the National Treasurer.
Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu said the NEC was properly constituted – per the party’s constitution – which means that those who were appointed in acting capacity will take over officially.
“The office has taken notice of the content of your submissions and the resolutions. It is also noted that the meeting was properly convened as per the party constitution.”
Jubilee is part of the larger Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance that ran against Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza Alliance in the August 2022 polls.
