Uhuru Kenyatta allies jostle for control of Jubilee Party funds

Intense jostling has gripped President Uhuru Kenyatta’s allies from outside his Central and Rift Valley strongholds over who should control the Jubilee Party’s campaign funds.

Mr Kenyatta is due to present his nomination papers to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries on Monday and the Nation has learned of vicious fights on who should be in charge of the kitty that could take momentum away from his re-election campaigns unless promptly addressed.

The most pronounced are the contests in Ukambani pitting professionals who are rooting for Mr Kenyatta against politicians who have been quick to dismiss the lobby as a Nairobi-based outfit that is out of touch with the masses.

Mwingi Central MP Joe Mutambu, speaking for a group of MPs, some who were in Wiper party headed by Nasa presidential running mate and Ukambani supremo Kalonzo Musyoka, says the kind of indignity they have suffered, being labelled traitors, rebels and even de-whipped from parliamentary committees in Parliament for supporting the President cannot allow them to assume a peripheral role in President Kenyatta’s campaigns.

“Who are these other people pretending to help the President at this late hour? Where were they when we were called all sorts of names including betrayers of the Kamba community?” he posed.

Mr Mutambu said that after defecting from Wiper party he and his colleagues had to invest a lot of time and resources in explaining to their constituents why they were ditching the party that sponsored them to Parliament.

The lawmakers were first irked by a meeting organised by the deputy chief of staff Nzioka Waita where the professionals met the President at State House and agreed to drum up support for him.

The Kamba professionals or Woni, as they are referred locally, are backed by some of the wealthiest community members including businessman Peter Muthoka.

SUPREMACY CONTEST

In western Kenya where Deputy President William Ruto is leading the onslaught against Nasa, Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa and Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka are engaged in a supremacy contest. But none of those close to them wants to voice it.

Mr Wamalwa sees the governor as his junior, politically. The county chief replaced the CS as the New-Ford Kenya party leader when he was appointed to the Cabinet. The party was later dissolved in an arrangement brokered by Mr Kenyatta where all parties supporting his re-election were collapsed to form Jubilee party. It is also true that the minister made his debut into elective politics long before the governor.

However, just like Governor Lusaka, the CS downplays the rivalry.

“We complement each other in articulating Jubilee agenda and ensure larger western Kenya delivers to the presidential vote basket. I have formed strategic working partnership teams with a number of stakeholders such as professionals, politicians and local leaders across all sectors in society who are now championing the Jubilee agenda,” the Cabinet Secretary told the Nation on Saturday.

The target is one million votes for Mr Kenyatta, he said.

“I will traverse Bungoma, Busia, Vihiga, Kakamega, and Trans Nzoia and even in Pokot and Turkana to ensure citizens are informed of Jubilee’s agenda and what has been so far delivered.”

BRUISE EGO

The Nation is aware of the ongoing plans by President Kenyatta’s campaign team to quell such bad blood that could cost him votes in what could be the tightest presidential race in recent times.

The Kamba professional group is also being advised to conduct their affairs without bruising the ego of the political class.

Equally, the Deputy President is expected in Kisii as part of the pacification effort.

In his trip to Bungoma two weeks ago, Mr Ruto is understood to have voiced similar concerns in a closed- door meeting with Jubilee affiliated lawmakers.

Police dispersed pockets of rowdy youths who had attempted to block the DP’s entourage chanting Nasa slogans.

Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju implies that the commotion was all good for the party.

“We are operating on the premise that the more people there are campaigning for the President, we are going in the same direction. If along the line there are people who feel they can do better than others, and others feeling they are being upstaged by their counterparts, that’s sibling rivalry, it’s okay, we can easily deal with that.”

JOASH MAANGI

Such fights have equally seen Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi who, despite being elected on an ODM party ticket, has been working with Jubilee for close to three years, return to his party last week.

Mr Maangi felt slighted by the entry of Senator Chris Obure, the new Jubilee pointman in Gusiiland who is challenging Governor James Ongwae on a Jubilee party ticket. Former chairman of the Commission on Implementation of the Constitution Charles Nyachae is another key winger in the region.

Competition over who was in charge or closer to the President in the region further saw former minister Sam Ongeri, a key ally of Mr Kenyatta’s in the 2013 polls, storm out and will now be seeking to be Kisii senator on an ODM ticket.

Mr Tuju has dismissed the move by the deputy county chief as inconsequential, almost inferring that he may have been on an intelligence gathering mission in Jubilee hence the move not to clear him to run.

“Was he sent by his party on espionage? The guy is ODM deputy governor, how can you claim he has defected from Jubilee? He found out we were too clever for him.”