Formation of the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) by ruling coalition partners ( TNA and URP) has sparked off clashing opinions among key political heavyweights in the coalition.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto
Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto, who doubles up as chairman of the Council of Governors (CoG) wants President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto both of whom sanctioned the formation of the new party, to resign and seek fresh mandate following the formation of the new outfit.
“They are not supposed to promote a new political party before resigning from their current political parties and that is exactly what they are doing in Kajiado County. It is time they resign and seek fresh mandate from the electorate,” said Ruto.
Similarly, vocal Mandera County Senator, Billow Kerrow, hit out at Jubilee coalition leaders for “setting up a new political party secretly, with the aim of winding up TNA and URP”, without the involvement of members.
“It is disheartening to say the least, and clearly unfair for the coalition leaders to create the so-called Jubilee Alliance Party without any form of consultation with the parliamentarians or coalition party officials. How can Jubilee ignore its members and expect us to be herded into a new outfit? Is their action not the type of dictatorship that we blame the Opposition coalition for?” protested Kerrow in a statement to newsrooms.
But National Assembly Majority Leader, Aden Duale defended the move to form JAP arguing it was a step in the right direction in preparation for the 2017 elections and that the move would unite Kenyans as well as avoid leadership vacuum in the two parties.
Speaking at Ol Rarinyiro Secondary School in Laikipia County on Friday, Duale said they would now embark on strengthening the party at the grassroots as well as creating good party structures.
“This is a move aimed at moving the leadership of the Jubilee alliance forward. We will no longer have party wrangles in the alliance and that is why we created this party,” he said.
Governor Ruto expressed shock and dismay at the move: “We are shocked that our party leaders have gone out of their way and formed a new outfit contrary to the Political Parties Act and as law abiding Kenyans we will push for their resignation so that we do not set wrong culture in the country where the law is breached haphazardly.”
“As URP leaders we are in the dark on the same and we do not know where we are as founding members of the parties which are being dissolved secretly,” said Ruto.
He added: “We are lost as members of URP since we were not consulted and we are going to take up the matter seriously.”
Ruto also took a swipe at the DP saying he had failed by not calling members to meetings to discuss pertinent matters and for side-stepping party structures, which should be respected.
Unruly manner
“This is what we have been saying all along, URP is conducting itself in an unruly manner and you can see where it is heading now,” he said.
Responding to Ruto, Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau pointed out to the Bomet Governor that he was reacting out of ignorance: “My brother, Governor Ruto, does not understand what is going on. I wish he first established the facts. JAP is one of Jubilee coalition’s constituent parties. There is no broken bone and he should relax.”
The new outfit is chaired by Nelson Dzuiya and Veronica Nduati is the Secretary General. Kenyatta and Ruto’s close allies David Murathe and Caleb Kositany taking the Vice Chair and the Deputy Secretary General respectively. It has also become evident even before the new party takes off, that some party officials, especially from Rift Valley, were uncomfortable and are openly speaking against dissolution of URP.
Kanu Secretary General Nick Salat said the party will remain independent. “We are not party to the arrangement. That is their own as for us we are only aware of our post-election agreement which is currently in place, anything else is neither here nor there, we are going to remain as Kanu,” he said.
Key political allies of the President and his deputy have however endorsed JAP, arguing it was the best way to go in strengthening their coalition in readiness for both the 2017 and 2022 general elections.
On Thursday members of the ruling coalition will begin a three day retreat that will go up to Sunday where the issues of the new party and mid-term review of the government performance will take centre stage. Among those who have spoken strongly in favour of JAP include Duale, Kericho Senator Charles Keter, Elgeiyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen, and Nithi MP Kareke Mbiuki. Others include Laikipia Senator GG Kariuki, Governor Joshua Irungu, Jane Apollos and Kimani Ichugwa (Kikuyu), Jude Njomo (Kiambu Town) and Laikipia West MP Wachira Karani.
URP National Deputy organising Secretary John Kangogo said: “We as the URP will however not dissolve our party. We will maintain it.”
Major party
Some in the coalition feel one major party may crack and create room for smaller units the way the original Forum for Restoration of Democracy (FORD) split only months after its formation in early 1990s.
Senator Keter said the move was meant to bring harmony among the two parties and avoid diverted allegiance to the different parties.
“We want to avoid the situation where our coalition politicians have diverted attention, the party will bring much needed harmony,” said Keter.
Murkomen said they were putting in place legal framework that will ensure that the new party will be used as a vehicle for Jubilee in 2017, while Mbiuki said “some of us have not played any role, but we are there to support what the President and his deputy come up with. They lead and we follow, because we want to be in a one big political family.”
Both Mbiuki and Keter noted that President Kenyatta and his deputy were the drivers of the initiative and that explains why some of the politicians were not privy to the development.
“We gave the two the mandate to lead us whatever they say we will follow, I am a political puppy to Kenyatta and wherever he goes I will. I am his sycophant and do support any of his initiatives,” said Mbiuki.
However, Kerrow questioned the wisdom of Jubilee leaders abrogating themselves the duty of making decisions on behalf of members: “It is clear that despite the many reforms in the political parties law, nothing has changed in the manner our political parties are managed; more like a private entity that ‘owners’ can shut down at will.”
This action by Jubilee, he argued, would encourage every group or region, or indeed politician, to set up their own party to avoid being locked out of personal entities.
“As a member of URP, I call upon its chairman to urgently convene a meeting of our parliamentary group and NEC to discuss this intriguing development. I am shocked that URP has agreed to this development, knowing what has happened in the recent past to the original ODM, PNU or even Ford!” protested Kerrow.
