Winners celebrate as losers cry foul over names in Jubilee campaign team

President Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto on Saturday moved to contain discontent within the Jubilee Party even as protests mounted in various parts of the country over the composition of the 61-member group to spearhead his re-election campaign.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto met the campaign team to State House early on Saturday morning and asked them to be selfless and not to use their positions to sideline their opponents.

“You are here to serve others. You need to cede ground so that other people can join us in working for Kenyans,” said the Deputy President.

They also named former Cabinet Minister Raphael Tuju as the head of the Jubilee Party secretariat in a move seen as part of efforts to stem discontent within the party’s ranks over its leadership.

Sources at State House indicated that Mr Tuju received the widest acceptance among the group since he is  viewed as a compromise. “Tuju is not vying and has been a minister and therefore managing complex issues is not a problem. The fact that he has no enemies in Jubilee was a plus for him,” said a member of the campaign team who attended the meeting.

But even as the group met, discontent over the composition of the campaign team intensified across the country with supporters of those who missed out demanding that it be reconstituted.

Across the country, supporters of Jubilee bigwigs who were left out of the team cried foul, demanding the team be reconstituted to include their preferred names.

Among the big names who missed out include the co-chairman of the Jubilee Party steering committee Dr Noah Wekesa, former The National Alliance (TNA) chairman Onyango Oloo, Jubilee deputy minority leader in the Senate Kipchumba Murkomen, governors Mwangi wa Iria (Murang’a), Samuel Tunai (Narok), Kinuthia Mbugua (Nakuru), William Kabogo (Kiambu) and Jackson Mandago (Uasin Gishu).

Also left out were Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu, Karachuonyo MP James Rege as well as Jubilee pointmen in Mombasa county Ramadhan Kajembe, Mwalimu Mwahima and Anania Mwaboza among others.

The big winners include Dr Wekesa’s co-chair in the Jubilee steering committee Kiraitu Murungi, Jubilee majority leader in the senate Kindiki Kithure, Mr Tuju, Governors Ken Lusaka (Bungoma), Nderitu Gachagua (Nyeri), Salim Mvurya (Kwale), Turkana senator John Munyes and his Murang’a counterpart Kembi Gitura.

Others include National Assembly deputy speaker Joyce Laboso, Turkana Women Representative Joyce Emanikor, Nakuru county assembly speaker Susan Kihika, MPs Naomi Shaaban, Gideon Mung’aro, Ben Washiali and former Constitutional Implementation Commission chairman Charles Nyachae.   

RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Among other roles, the team, whose members will be dispatched to their home regions to spearhead Mr Kenyatta’s re-election campaign, will be in charge of campaign funds believed to run into billions of shillings.

They will also have a big say in how the billions will be shared in their respective regions. This provides an opportunity for the team members to starve their perceived opponents of the much needed campaign cash.

Protests erupted as delegates who felt their regions had been left out demanded that the list be reconstituted.

The discontent persisted with Murang’a Governor Wa Iria and Kiharu MP Irungu Kang’ata protesting the inclusion of Mr Gitura’s name in the campaign team. Mr Gitura has been the governor’s critic. Mr Kang’ata maintained teh senator’s name was never announced.

“We are sticking with the list from the DP. Any other name will not be tolerated because it is erroneous,” he said.

In Nyeri, rowdy youths caused a stir on Saturday at a function attended by Deputy President Willian Ruto. The youths positioned themselves at the entrance of Gititu Mixed Secondary School in Tetu Constituency where the Deputy was attending a fundraiser.

As Mr Ruto’s vehicle approached, they took out their placards and begun shouting. “We do not recognise the governor (Gachagua) or his brother.

Jubilee in under attack,” they shouted. Kangema MP Tiras Ngahu said the party had started on the wrong footing by including Mr Gitura’s name without following the proper procedure.

“We have nothing personal against Kembi but we don’t know the criteria used to add his name, so we feel they have failed the first test,” he said.
Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau, who is seeking to dislodge the Murang’a governor, however, said he would work with those named on the list.

In Mombasa, Coast Jubilee Party leaders and supporters rejected the list, saying it largely comprised former opposition MPs who defected to the government side only recently.

Former Mombasa County Jubilee Party interim chairman Ali Mwatsahu warned President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto against taking party supporters for granted by handpicking his campaigners without consultation. “Where is Gonzi Rai (Kinango MP) or Anania Mwaboza (former Kisauni MP) who have stood with Jubilee coalition before and after the 2013 elections?” he asked.

Pwani University don Prof Gabriel Katana dismissed the campaign team, saying it failed to pick the right people who could attract a huge following in the region.

PICK INDIVIDUALS

“The Malindi by-election should have been the reference point for the Jubilee top brass to pick individuals with grassroots appeal not the same faces that have failed the party before,” he said. He noted none of the six politicians on the list, Mr Mvurya, Mr Mung’aro, Zainab Chidzuga, Danson Mungatana, Suleiman Shahbal and Naomi Shabaan has the capacity to mobilise support at the grassroots levels.

“If the party will rely on these individuals, I don’t see how they will deliver the votes when they were lackluster in their previous assignments,” he stated.

Jubilee supporters in Nyanza region also criticised the composition of the campaign team, saying only Mr Tuju merited to be on the list.

They claimed the list was full of inexperienced politicians who are not popular on the ground. Mr Zuberi Liete, a former United Republican Party (URP) Nyanza coordinator, singled out Mr Nyachae as one who is not able to sell the Jubilee agenda in the region.

“Many of us have struggled for the party in this hostile region called Nyanza, while the President is choosing newcomers to spearhead his re-election,” said Mr Liete.

He added: “We don’t need sycophants who do not attend Jubilee meetings and do not even understand party structures and cannot market the party on the ground.”

Mr Liete, however, termed the exclusion of Mr Oloo from the list as good riddance, saying the official did little to help the people of Nyanza.

“Mr Rege could have made a better leader and really understands how politics is played at the grassroots level. He is an asset to Jubilee,” he said.

In Nakuru, Ms Kihika, a sworn critic of Governor Mbugua, welcomed her inclusion on the list, saying she was equal to the task ahead.

“I have been working with women, the young and vibrant people who form more than 65 per cent of Nakuru and this is the group that could easily push forward the agenda of the Jubilee Party,” said Ms Kihika who is eyeing the Nakuru senatorial seat.

Speaking to the Nation, Ms Kihika said she was not surprised by the appointment although she had not seen it coming.

“I thank the President and his Deputy for giving me this opportunity and I believe I have what it takes to deliver and I now call upon all politicians to support the move initiated by the two principals to enable Jubilee win the 2017 elections,” said Ms Kihika.

Many expected the two principals to appoint either Mr Mbugua or Bahati MP Onesmus Kimani Ngunjiri to lead the Jubilee campaigns in the cosmopolitan county.

SENT APOLOGIES

On Saturday, despite initial reports of opposition, 11 Nakuru MPs,  including Mr Ngunjiri, supported Ms Kihika’s appointment . Seven MPs were at the press conference but the others sent apologies.

In Eldoret, a Nandi County gubernatorial aspirant, Kiprotich Cherargei, welcomed the list, saying it was carefully crafted to eat into the opposition support in Rift Valley.

“ODM’s victory in three out of four county assembly seats during the recent by-elections, including Kalokol Ward in Turkana Central constituency, might have forced President Kenyatta and DP Ruto to bring on board Turkana County Senator John Munyes and Turkana County Women MP Joyce Emanikor to try and wrestle the region from the opposition,” he said.

He added that Mr Ruto could have left Mr Murkomen and Mr Mandago out of the campaign due to recent controversies involving them.

“Despite Governor Mandago being at the forefront in commenting on national issues like that of the vice-chancellor of Moi University, it seems this did not go down well with the Jubilee top brass after he was grilled by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations,” said Mr Cherargei.

But youthful Bomet Central parliamentary aspirant Dancel Kipngeno Kirui faulted the list, saying it lacked young leaders.
“Jubilee should at least have included youths in the team,” he said.

Tetu constituency MP aspirant Peter Kamuthu disapproved the team, saying the President ought to have left out incumbents and aspirants and gone for neutral faces.

Mr Kamuthu fears the politicians on the list will manipulate party activities in their favour and campaign for themselves using the President’s name.

“Elected leaders should not be involved in presidential campaigns because they will be perceived as the preferred candidates for the President. They should not vie for any seat. How will they campaign for the President and campaign for their seats?” asked Mr Kamuthu.

Mr Gachagua’s ally and Chinga MCA David Ngiria, however, welcomed the list, saying President Kenyatta had confidence in the team and their ability to mobilise supporters in the Mt Kenya region.

“The list was well thought-out and the President had gathered enough intelligence before releasing the list. He chose people who have support in their areas and leaders. For instance, I can confirm that Governor Gachagua and MP Esther Murugi are friends and they enjoy huge support in Nyeri,”

noted Mr Ngiria.

Reporting by Peter Leftie, Wanjohi Githae, Mwakera Mwajefa, Dennis Lubanga, Rushdie Oudia, Joseph Wangui, Francis Mureithi, Martin Mwaura and Joseph Openda