Jubilee set to hold key meeting amid infighting

Deputy President William Ruto with Igembe South MP John Paul Mwirigi during the Jubilee parliamentary group meeting at State House, last year. PHOTO | PSCU

What you need to know:

  • National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said he is yet to get the program detailing the agenda of the meeting.
  • Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei told Nation they are ready for the meeting even though they have not formally been notified.
  • Leaders from the Rift Valley region have dismissed reports of a split in Jubilee Party.

Jubilee Party is set to hold its Parliamentary Group meeting on Tuesday, the first formal gathering after the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga on March 9.

Although most of the MPs told Nation they are yet to be formally invited and are still not aware of the agenda, the recent infighting within the party is expected to be top of the issues to be discussed.

The party meets in the face of many issues such as the renewed war on corruption and a declaration by President Kenyatta that all public officers must undertake a lifestyle audit.

Some of the MPs allied to Deputy President William Ruto have openly questioned the war on corruption and the demand for a lifestyle audit, saying it is not anchored in any legal framework, and that it is a scheme to target the DP as a way of ensuring he does not succeed President Kenyatta.

The MPs expect the President to brief them on the handshake, the war on corruption, the lifestyle audit and also define the way forward for the party after the 2017 general election.

AGENDA
National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale said he is yet to get the program detailing the agenda of the meeting.

“I have also just heard about the meeting in the media, I am yet to get the agenda,” Mr Duale said.

Cherangany MP Joshua Kutuny said they have not been told the agenda of the PG so far, but he hopes the meeting will be used to put the Jubilee house in order, and also address the issue of lifestyle audit.

“We have seen leaders from Jubilee talking as if they are in the opposition, and that is one of the things that must be addressed in the PG,” Mr Kutuny said.

“We also expect that the meeting will be used to re-the President and Mr Odinga,” he added.

HARSHEST CRITIC

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, who has recently emerged at the harshest critic of the March 9 handshake, told Nation they are ready for the meeting even though they have not formally been notified.

He said he hopes the meeting will go on as scheduled so that MPs get an opportunity to ventilate the many issues that have rocked the party in the recent weeks.

Meanwhile, leaders from the Rift Valley region have dismissed reports of a split in Jubilee Party.

The leaders denied that the union between President Kenyatta and his deputy is on the rocks, saying those thinking that Jubilee is poised to break are day dreaming. Led by Senator Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen and a section of MPs, they maintained that Jubilee is united “despite propaganda being perpetuated by false prophets and the media”.
Mr Murkomen said those hoping the party will die so they can have an easy time in 2022 are dreaming. Speaking yesterday at Town View Academy in Kapenguria during a funds drive, the leaders said they will attend the party’s PG.