Only Uhuru nod left for Jubilee Party to take off

President Uhuru Kenyatta will this week receive a report on the constitution and election rules of the Jubilee Party before announcing a date for the National Delegates Convention to formally launch the party.

National Steering Committee co-chairs Kiraitu Murungi and Noah Wekesa on Sunday told the Nation that the next move now depended on President Kenyatta’s schedule.

They also dismissed “propaganda” from their rivals that there was a disagreement over the sharing of party positions.

“We meet the President this week to hear his plans on when the National Delegates Convention will be held,” said Mr Murungi. “This (convention) will be preceded by a delegates meeting of all the merging 12 parties.”

Dr Wekesa said: “The National Steering Committee has finalised the preparation of election and nomination rule, the party manifesto and the party constitution and will take it to the party leader, the President. He cannot announce a party without these structures.”

After the merger agreement has been ratified by all the merging parties, the document will now be presented to the Jubilee Party National Delegates at a date when the President will decide.

Deputy President William Ruto has been designated as the Deputy party leader while the other posts will be shared out depending on the numerical strength of parties, Mr Murungi had said in an earlier interview.

The development comes days after Narc leader Charity Ngilu joined her Kanu counterpart Gideon Moi and Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto (Mashinani Party), who have refused to fold up and join Jubilee.

Mr Murungi said Kenyans will soon embrace the outfit that President Kenyatta hopes to use as his re-election vehicle.

The Meru senator dismissed those he said were opposing the merger and asked them to stop the propaganda.

He singled out the rebellious Governor Ruto, whom he said had every right to not be part of the party.

MORE FUNDING
The governor — who has engaged in a long-drawn out supremacy battle with the DP — last week laughed off the merger and questioned how New Ford-Kenya, which said it will fold up and join Jubilee, was convinced.

Since there was no document showing what Jubilee stood for, he argued, the Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka-associated New Ford-K had been taken for a ride.

“Governor Ruto should stop these games,” said Mr Murungi. “He has said he is not joining Jubilee, so what bites him that he has to start questioning how we do things? He has a struggling party and he should concentrate on that as we deal with our merger.”

Dr Wekesa dismissed allegations that the merger had been delayed because of jostling for political seats. The former Kwanza MP said there will be no elections to get party officials.

It had been reported that New Ford-K had asked to be given the secretary-general post as other parties demanded various seats, delaying the merger.

“All party officials will be nominated, and it is therefore wrong to say that the merger has delayed because of jostling for these positions,” said Dr Wekesa.

“We cannot have an election just months to the General Election.”

The Jubilee Party will be the most funded political outfit after President Kenyatta assented to a law allowing smaller parties to get a piece of the political funding.

The merger negotiations had hit a wall as the law did not clearly stipulate what happens to the President, his deputy, and governors and their deputies when the parties they used to ascend to office are merged.

“We identified all areas where people would have used to take us to court and won, and closed all those loopholes,” said Dr Wekesa.