UhuRuto walk tightrope as battle for Jubilee party posts heats up

President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto are faced with a new hurdle barely a fortnight to the unveiling of the Jubilee Party after two camps emerged to claim leadership positions.

One camp wants the party to be headed by professionals with no interest in running in 2017 — with the exception of the President and his Deputy — while the other group wants elected officials to be the face of the party.

Both sides have been lobbying ahead of the official launch on September 10. 

The Sunday Nation has learnt that those pushing for professionals say that this will allow for free and fair nominations, a feat they say will be hard to achieve if the party is led by elected officials.

This brings a new dimension to the scramble for key positions by at least 12 political parties, with the smaller outfits fearing that powerful individuals affiliated to TNA and URP will dominate.

Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka, whose new Ford Kenya party is expected to officially dissolve and join Jubilee, said the President and the DP will make the decision at an appropriate time.

“The face of Kenya will be important as it will capture regional balance in the party,” he said.

Albert Nyaundi, Ford People Party leader, said there is a need for critical positions to be held by people with political experience.

“There was a time when (the late) Okiki Amayo or (the late) Joseph Kamotho talked and you knew Kanu has talked. You may appoint someone with five PhD degrees but they cannot use the party platform to attract votes even where they come from. We need people with gravitas, they need not be active politicians now but people who have been in politics at some point,” he said.

AVOID MUSTRUST

But URP Secretary-General Fred Muteti says professionals are a better bet so as to avoid mistrust between elected leaders and aspirants.

“Party officials should not be people who have political ambitions. Let all politicians face the electorate at the same level. That way, there will be no mistrust,” he said.

According to a draft party constitution, there will be 21 offices at the party headquarters with three deputies to run its affairs.

Though the post of Party Leader and Deputy Party Leader are reserved for President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto, the posts of national chairman, deputy national chairman, secretary-general, treasurer, organising secretary and executive director have elicited intense lobbying.

Team Uhuru, an outfit headed by President Kenyatta’s personal assistant Jomo Gecaga, is in charge of the President’s re-election campaigns and is already planning for the Jubilee convention.

“Lobby groups will all fall under Team Uhuru that is tasked with running the membership and grassroots recruitment campaign. It will also coordinate media and digital platforms for publicity as well as branding and messaging for the party.  Party officials will in turn be in charge of party nominations, draft strategy and programmes,” said a source.

(READ: Intense fight for new party slots exposes Jubilee’s soft underbelly)

In the meantime, top Jubilee affiliate party officials continue to hold high-level meetings to discuss  details of the three-day convention in which millions of shillings will be spent to accommodate, transport and entertain an estimated 10,000 delegates. On Tuesday, the coalition leaders met in Nairobi under the coordinating committee’s co-chairman Kiraitu Murungi.

The convention will be one of the largest for a single party in recent times. Former President Daniel arap Moi used to organise colourful Kanu conventions in the city with delegates getting fat allowances.

“There will be many delegates coming in. But the share of the delegates is dictated by the party’s national strength. You do not expect national parties like URP and TNA to bring same numbers as these other regional based parties,” said former Cabinet Minister Dr Noah Wekesa, the coordinating committee’s co-chairman.

Each party will first hold a separate national delegates conference on the first day of the convention to pass resolutions to dissolve and join the new party.
Dr Wekesa said that the nomination of the interim officials for the party will be unveiled on the final day of the three-day event whose funding is by a pool of resources from an undisclosed source.

“The list of new JP officials will be unveiled at the convention. The President and his Deputy are solely working on it; only the two can tell you who they have assigned which duties in the party,” said Dr Wekesa.

TNA National Chairman Johnson Sakaja also said that the new party’s national office holders will be a mix of seasoned politicians and technocrats. He said that there is agreement that both politicians and other players have a role to play in building the new party.

CAUSED JITTERS

The party’s formation has caused jitters in the President’s strongholds with several aspirants threatening to stay away from the merger plans and face the JP proponents through other parties.

“There is a formula that the President and his Deputy will use to apportion duties in the party’s National Executive Committee,” Mr Sakaja told the Sunday Nation.
He said that parties with bigger national portfolio would be assigned according to their strengths just as will be the smaller parties who will be folding up.
Mr Sakaja also said that the party’s proposed constitution is being fine-tuned to accommodate all members’ interests.

“It is difficult to know which party will get what. All we know for now is that in TNA we presented the President with our constitution and advised him to ensure positions are shared according to party strengths,” said TNA Secretary General Mr Onyango Oloo.

During next month’s convention delegates of the new party will approve the elections and nomination rules after they are adopted by the interim office.

According to the new party’s proposed elections rules the National Elections Board and the County Elections Board would be in charge of the party primaries.

The party has also structured how it shall undertake nomination of various interest groups both at the national assembly, the senate and the county assemblies.

Party members interested in seeking nomination positions will be asked to apply and attend interviews organised by the party NEB before being listed.