Inside Jubilee plan to puncture Ruto's hustlers movement wave

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party will from Thursday begin activities to revive the party after recent by election losses. The party will host ward representatives from six counties, the first in a series of meetings that seek to puncture the popularity of Deputy President William Ruto’s hustler narrative.

Last week, leaders allied to Uhuru resolved to revamp the party for next year’s election and have planned activities in eight regions.

A group of young MPs want to counter the popularity of the Ruto linked United Democratic Alliance’s (UDA) popularity particularly targeting to puncture the hustlers messaging. 

In their maiden meeting to be held in Sagana, Nyeri county, the legislators calling themselves Jubilee Reloaded seek to have at least two politicians from each ward in the counties of Kiambu, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Laikipia and Nyandarua into the forum.

The meetings will promote a strategy dubbed ‘Wanjiku Revolution’, a slogan coined to challenge the hustler movement.

Through Wanjiku Revolution messaging, the proponents hope to connect with the people and turn around the fortunes of the ailing party.

Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu, who is one of the conveners, noted that they want to reach out to mama mbogas and boda boda riders and share their political opinion and the future of the country.

“We had given enough time to the hustler nation proponents. We are now taking the political war to their doorstep by going out and listening to the people and also share with them the successes of the Jubilee party,” said Wambugu.

The team has developed a ten point document that they will be sharing with the people indicating what the government has achieved and link the ruling party to those successes.

In the document, the Wanjiku Revolution team has captured the successes through improved health care, ongoing agriculture reforms in tea and coffee sectors and billions worth of infrastructural projects across the country.

Other issues they have captured to counter UDA’s Bottom-Up economic model are the billions of shillings invested in Uwezo Fund, Youth Fund, cash transfer to the elderly and the Boda Boda Investment Scheme launched in October last year by President Kenyatta. The scheme targets 1.4 million riders to save billions of shillings annually.

The scheme was unveiled following the signing of an agreement between the Boda Boda Safety Association (BAK) and Capital Markets Authority, Rubis Energy and NABO Capital. Members were required to send Sh50 daily to the scheme as savings.

The riders were to benefit from a Sh3 discount for every litre of fuel they buy at Rubis Energy. The amount would be channeled to the scheme as part of their savings.

“We want to get to the people and show them that the Bottom Up approach UDA is talking about is already in place and being implemented under President Kenyatta’s government,” said Ngunjiri.

Kieni MP Kanini Kega said their plan was to showcase Jubilee successes and also ask people what are their priorities the government can still implement.

“We are now active more than ever after our good performance in Muguga ward and Kiambaa constituency by-elections. We are emboldened and will move across the country to the people. We are unstoppable,” said Kega.

In the night meeting at Windsor Hotel, about 30 MPs from Jubilee’s kieleweke wing agreed to reactivate the party through empowering of regional caucuses, women and youth groups, and special groups while re-engineering the popularity of the party. The plan is to have causes in Mount Kenya, Rift Valley, Coast, Western, Eastern, North Eastern, Nairobi and Nyanza. It was agreed that the regions would work closely with youth and women caucuses to activate their respective bases.

Part of the resolution at the Windsor talks was to engage the public through town halls meetings and village barazas to get feedback and ideas to improve the party.

It was also agreed that over the next two weeks the president’s party will organise forums in Nyeri, Murang’a, Kiambu, Kirinyaga and Nyandarua to consolidate what they have built.

Ndaragua MP Jeremiah Kioni noted that moving forward, they need to connect the party and achievements of Jubilee.

“We will seek to politically expose Kenyans to markets opened, land titles given, hospitals established, electricity connected and how these are impacting ordinary Kenyans whether doing boda boda business or the mama mboga, youth, women and business community,” said Kioni.

He added; “We want to ensure Kenyans understand what the government has been doing for the poor and that it’s done to be long-term and sustainable and make it to be politically understood.”

Jubilee party reloaded have also been mulling at changing the logo and colours of the party as part of their relaunch which insiders say is slated for October.

jngetich@standardmedia.co.ke