Nine Jubilee parties give notice to fold and support Uhuru

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s and his deputy William Ruto’s party of choice for next year’s elections edged closer to becoming a reality on Monday after nine affiliate parties gave notice to merge.

According to the notices published in the Nation on Tuesday, the parties, which include TNA and URP will merge to form the Jubilee Party in a month.

Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto are the TNA and URP party leaders respectively.

On Tuesday, they are expected to give direction on how the affiliate parties will be merged. The two leaders will unveil their plan during a televised press conference at State House in Nairobi.

The address is set for 10 am, according to a dispatch from the Presidential Strategic Communication Unit.

The nine parties which have signalled their intention to merge have each written to the Registrar of Political Parties, stating their resolve to disband and join the Jubilee Party on whose ticket the President and his deputy will defend their seats in the next elections.

In all, 12 parties are expected to merge and back President Kenyatta’s re-election bid.

In their notices to Ms Lucy Ndung’u’, the Registrar of Political Parties, the parties have said that they will be would up on the same day—September 9—at the Safaricom Kasarani Stadium and Bomas of Kenya, both venues being in Nairobi.

Even though the Jubilee Party is yet to be registered, Ms Ndung’u said the law required its promoters to submit all documents required for its establishment after the September 9 meetings.

“We do not have anything on Jubilee Party. It is only after the NDCs that they will submit its instruments, including the merger agreement,” she told the Nation in a telephone interview.

In their notice, TNA Chairman Johnson Sakaja and Secretary-General Onyango Oloo said: “Pursuant to Section 36 of The National Alliance (TNA) party constitution, the party’s National Oversight Board has adopted a resolution to merge the party with an already existing party. This is therefore to inform you that as required by Section 21(1) of the Political Parties Act 2011, the party will hold a National delegates Convention on Tuesday, 9th September 2016 at Kasarani Arena, between 2pm and 7pm where delegates will consider and ratify this decision”.

SIMILAR MEETING

On the same day, URP delegates will hold a similar meeting to ratify the decision to collapse the party and move to the JP. Party Chairman Bare Shill and Secretary-General Fred Muteti signed the party’s notice.

New Ford-K will holds its NDC at the Multipurpose Hall at Bomas of Kenya at 7am on the same day. At 2pm on the same day, the hall will be used by the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) to wind up. The United Democratic Forum—whose chairman is nominated MP Hassan Osman—will dissolve itself at the Bomas of Kenya auditorium and then pave the way for the APK, commonly known as “the Bus” at 2pm.

The Republican Congress Party (RC), which was founded by Tourism CS Najib Balala, will hold its NDC at the Bomas Grounds at 7am and pave the way for the United Party of Kenya (UPK) chaired by former Assistant Minister Petkey Miriti at 2pm.

Mr Kiunjuri’s GNU will hold its delegates meeting at the Safaricom Kasarani Stadium Grounds at 7am on the same date.

The NDCs will mark the end of the work carried out by the Jubilee Party Steering Committee co-chaired by Mr Murungi and former Cabinet minister Noah Wekesa. The committee handed the instruments of the party to President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto at State House on July 29.

The interim committee named President Kenyatta as the interim Party Leader with Mr Ruto as the Deputy Party Leader.

“Call me the interim party leader. It is the people who will decide the party leader. This party will be democratic because that is the only way to guarantee its survival,” the President said after receiving the report.

While accepting the new role, President Kenyatta said Jubilee Party will unite Kenyans and champion stronger integration of the East African Community. He also said it will herald the end of ethnic-based parties.

“A new child has been born to unite Kenyans and to grow the economy. No longer shall we give Kenyans choices based on ethnicity, clanism or religion,” Mr Kenyatta said at the time.

The Party of National Unity (PNU) which was retired President Mwai Kibaki’s party in the 2007 elections is divided over whether to also dissolve and merge while Kanu has flatly rejected folding up. Kanu was the ruling party from independence until December, 2002.