Jubilee wars escalate after parties' registrar suspends changes

The Registrar of Political Parties (RPP) has temporarily stopped the anticipated change of names in Jubilee Party’s National Management Committee (NMC) in another twist that will offer Deputy President William Ruto and his allies some relief in their push to control the ruling party.

RPP Anne Nderitu halted the decision to effect the changes after 350 members of the party filed written objections with her office over the manner in which the process was carried out.

Ms Nderitu in turn wrote to Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju, forwarding the objections and ordering resolution of the issues the members raised in their demand for the process to be halted.

She noted that the issues must be addressed in accordance with the party's constitution, the Political Parties Act and the conclusion filed with her office.

RPP'S ANALYSIS

In the letter to Mr Tuju, Ms Nderitu said the party members who wrote to her office questioned the process leading up to the changes.

“In analysing the objections, we noted that they relate to the procedures and processes within your party,” Ms Nderitu says in the letter copied to leaders of majority in the two chambers of Parliament

“These written objections are hereby forwarded to Jubilee Party to be addressed in accordance with your party constitution and party structures.”

Among those who filed the objections was Mr Tuju’s deputy Caleb Kositany, who is Soy MP and the Deputy President's ally.

Mr Kositany wrote to the RPP on Tuesday, demanding all the relevant documents pertaining to the changes.

He accused Mr Tuju and party chairman Nelson Dzuya of making the changes without following procedures.

Some of the documents he sought included forms on the intended change of Jubilee's constitution and the intended change of membership of party officials, as well as minutes of any meeting convened by the party from September 2017 to date.

LEGAL ACTION

Mr Tuju had given the office of RPP the notice of change of officials in the party’s committee.

He and other leaders close to President Uhuru Kenyatta want Ms Lucy Nyawira Macharia, Prof Marete Marangu, Mr Walter Nyambati, Ms Jane Nampaso and Mr James Waweru join the party’s NMC.

The DP and his allies appear opposed to this

Speaking on Friday after meeting Ms Nderitu, Mr Kositany welcomed the move to refer the matter to Jubilee for reconsideration.

He said MPs allied to the DP would institute legal action against Mr Tuju and Mr Dzuya for what he claimed was falsification of signatures.

“We are going to institute legal action the secretary-general and the chairman because they presented to the registrar minutes of a meeting that never took place,” Mr Kositany said.

He was flanked by Senate Majority Whip Susan Kihika, Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria and Lang’ata MP Nixon Korir.

TUJU'S RESPONSE

Reached for comment, Mr Tuju said he had not seen the letter from the registrar and would only respond after that.

"If I were to engage some of these people on everything they say, I would not have a life. We are coordinating with some other Kenyans on how to adopt more families vulnerable because of this coronavirus," he said.

“When the registrar's letter comes to my office, I will deal with it but for the moment we are trying to sponsor vulnerable families."

He added: "We want to ensure the families have something to eat tonight and in future as we face Covid-19."

COUNTER TAKEOVER

On Friday, the four leaders indicated that they hoped to exploit the reprieve provided by the RPP to launch a counter takeover of the party in the wake of the President's refusal to call a meeting of the organ of the party.

The party's constitution  provides that only the President or the DP can summon the National Executive Committee.

President Kenyatta has never convened such a meeting since 2017 while the DP cannot countenance the prospects of calling such a meeting out of fear of being labelled disloyal to the President.

Mr Kositany indicated that Ruto-allied MPs would pile pressure on the majority whips in the Senate and National Assembly to convene a parliamentary group meeting for discussions on Jubilee's future.

“We are not going to wait for nobody’s permission. We will reach out to Mr Benjamin Washiali (National Assembly) and ask him to convene the PG for us to have a solution on the issues in the party,” Mr Kositany said.