Jostling for key seats delay launch of President Uhuru's re-election vehicle

Anxiety is building up in the Jubilee coalition over the delay in unveiling the new political outfit to be used by President Uhuru Kenyatta to seek re-election next year.

Of concern is the constant postponement of the inauguration of the Jubilee Party (JP), with sources close to the secretariat revealing that lobbying for positions in the National Executive Council (NEC) is delaying the exercise.

Parties dissolving to join JP are keen to have strong positions in the outfit and this has seen party bigwigs scratching their heads on how to surmount the challenge. According to sources, stakes are so high that affiliate parties are laying claim to key ranks in the yet to be established NEC with the aim of consolidating their positions.

Already, New Ford Kenya, the first party to show willingness to dissolve, is seeking the Secretary General’s position, with the main parties in the coalition - TNA and URP - yet to stake what position they are gunning for.

Scramble for positions

The demand by New Ford Kenya has ruffled feathers within the coalition, with Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi, one of the co-chairs of the Jubilee merger secretariat, telling the party officials to hold their horses.

Early this week, there was speculation that the steering committee spearheading the merger of parties had been disbanded leaving the exercise in limbo. But speaking to The Standard on Sunday, Jubilee merger co-chair Noah Wekesa laughed off insinuations that the steering committee had been disbanded.

“We have not yet given the report to the party leader (the President) and he doesn’t even know what is in it. How can it be that the committee has been dissolved?” posed Dr Wekesa.

He said it was automatic that the steering committee would stand dissolved once they present their report to the President and Deputy President.

“Disregard those spreading the rumours that the committee has been dissolved because the official word can only come from myself and my co-chair (Kiraitu) who you can call to confirm the same,” said Wekesa.

He also denied that conclusion of the merger had been delayed by jostling for positions between parties seeking to dissolve. The former Cabinet minister said the merger process has only been delayed by the completion of their report, which is now ready for presentation to the Jubilee co-principals.

But a key player in the merger talks claimed there were widespread fears that an interim leadership committee had already been formed.

But Kiraitu said a party’s parliamentary strength will determine how much sway a dissolved outfit holds in the merged political vehicle.

“Other than the President and the Deputy President, who will hold the top key positions in the new party, all other positions will be distributed according to this formula,” Murungi said at Igoji PCEA church in his Meru backyard.

“We still don’t have the umbrella party and the moment of sharing party positions has not yet come but they (New Ford Kenya) know very well the type of positions they are likely to get going from what they are bringing into the new party,” he said.

Contact with a wide variety of Jubilee insiders failed to reveal who the Jubilee principals had settled on to steer the political vehicle.

But an interview with TNA Secretary General Onyango Oloo a month ago was illuminating.

Speaking in the wake of recurrent queries after a series of postponement of the merger date, Mr Oloo said there was no cause for alarm as only legislative changes were delaying the culmination of the process.

Seamless transition

He said the technical working groups had finalised the Jubilee Party instruments of governance, including the Elections Rules, the party constitution and the nomination rules with the last document being approved on June 20.

“My estimation is that by mid August, we shall have delivered the merged party,” Oloo stated.

According to the TNA secretary general, the parties will be required to provide their National Delegates Conference (NDC) resolutions committing to dissolution and merger as per their constitutions.

Oloo said he was confident the party had sufficient time to endear itself to the grassroots, as elections were still more than a year away

Oloo, who heads the merger steering committee on Legal Affairs, said his party and Ruto’s United Republican Party (URP) would surrender their secretariats, staff and structures to the new outfit to enable it hit the ground running.

“If one wants to know that we shall have a seamless transition, they just have to look at how we have conducted primaries for by-elections where we have fielded candidates under the Jubilee banner,” he said.

The party’s biggest advantage, Oloo said, is that the Jubilee brand is well known and just needs to be built into a formidable campaign vehicle.

But the delay in launching the new party is still causing anxiety in its Mt Kenya bedrock, with politicians seeking to have the matter resolved urgently.

Kiambaa MP Paul Koinange said the apparent delay of the launch was causing anxiety among Jubilee supporters. He said those opposed to the dissolution are “cowards who fear free and fair political competition.”

The MP said majority of central region leaders were in full support of the dissolution as it would rid the country off tribal parties.

—Additional reporting by Fidelis Kabunyi