Uhuru moves to kick out Ruto from Jubilee

President Uhuru Kenyatta chats with ODM leader Raila Odinga as Deputy President William Ruto follows them after the official launch of the Building Bridges at Bomas of Kenya on October 26, 2020. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

Jubilee Party plans to convene its National Delegates Conference (NDC) to officially kick out Deputy President William Ruto.

The party is seeking to revoke Ruto’s membership and consequently throw him out as the deputy party leader.

Others targeted in the escalating war between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy are more than 100 elected leaders associated with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju yesterday said they were in consultation with the president to agree on a date for a top party organ meeting. Sources said the NDC could be held this month. The party will have to issue a 21-day notice before the meeting.

Tuju was speaking after the National Management Committee (NMC) and parliamentary leadership meeting at the party’s headquarters in Nairobi, yesterday.

“We are preparing for our National Delegates Conference, which is the highest organ of the party. It is for that reason that we decided to have a broader deliberation that involves the NMC and parliamentary leadership,” he said.

The Standard has established that the president plans to use the NDC to seek for ratification to enter into a coalition with Raila Odinga-led ODM.

Uhuru’s and Raila’s teams have since drafted an agreement to field a joint presidential candidate in next year’s General Election. The deal will be subject of approval by the NDC.

Tuju yesterday said the discussions have been escalated to the president and ODM leader.

“Our discussions with ODM are ongoing. There are discussions that have been done at our level and there are discussions that are being done at the level of the party leaders,” he said.

Kieni MP Kanini Kega, who attended the meeting, said the NDC will drop big names from its membership register, including that of the DP.

Kega reiterated that Ruto and his allies have been openly advocating for UDA in total contravention of the Political Parties Act.

“Expect big names to be dropped from the membership list of Jubilee. We will start with the deputy president. If you lose your membership you also lose your position in the party. That is bound to happen and there is no doubt about it,” he said.

“Those people who have not been loyal to the party and have subscribed to another party; what do you expect? The Constitution is clear that if you are deemed to be advancing ideals of another party you are deemed to have resigned.”

But Garissa Township MP Aden Duale scoffed at the schemes targeting leaders allied to Ruto, terming them tired “threats and blackmail”.

Duale said they were not interested in what is happening in Jubilee since they have moved to UDA and are focused on building it into a national party.

“We don’t want to be part of Jubilee Party that has been cannibalised and is now being sold to ODM as scrap metal. It is clear that come the next General Election, we will have a new vehicle called UDA for those close to Ruto,” he said.

“The threats and blackmail are not new to us. They can take whatever action they want. We are not interested anymore in Jubilee. The only interest left is that we are still serving under the Jubilee banner for the various elective positions.”

The scheme to kick out Ruto from Jubilee started last year after the NMC made the bold decision to remove him as the party’s deputy leader and forwarded the decision to the National Executive Council (NEC) chaired by the president early this year.

The process has, however, delayed after the party failed to convene NEC meeting to ratify the decision.

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