Leaders call for rejection of JAP

Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto (right) with Kuresoi South MP Zakayo Cheruiyot. The two are among URP leaders cautioning residents of the Rift Valley against the Jubilee Alliance Party. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

Kenya: The newly registered Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) continues to cause jitters among political leaders in the Rift Valley region.

A day after Narok North MP Moitalel Kenta dismissed the party saying none of the Maasai community leaders were consulted before its formation, his Kuresoi South counterpart Zakayo Cheruiyot warned politicians in the Rift Valley they risk being political slaves of The National Alliance (TNA) party, an affiliate of the Jubilee alliance.

Mr Cheruiyot, one of the fiercest critics of the Jubilee administration, said JAP was the brainchild of TNA, which he said wants to swallow the United Republican Party (URP) to control the region's votes.

Speaking in his constituency at the weekend, Cheruiyot said it would be wrong for voters in the region to join JAP as they might lose their political identity to their counterparts in the central Kenya region, in the name of political unity.

"As a region, we must have our own political identity instead of allowing individuals who have their own selfish interests to take us hostage because we will end up regretting. Why are they hurrying the process of dissolving URP and TNA, as if the world is ending tomorrow?" posed Cheruiyot.

being fooled

"I want to warn the Rift Valley people we are being fixed and, if we are not careful, we will be short-changed in 2022,"Cheruiyot said.

He said if central Kenya politicians are so much interested in joining one party, then they can as well join URP and dissolve TNA.

"If the issue is about a single party, then let TNA come and join us in URP. Why are they forcing us into a house they have constructed on their own?" he wondered.

He called on Deputy President William Ruto to listen to his people on the ground as most of them are opposed to the idea of joining JAP.

Bomet Governor Isaac Ruto is among the leaders in the region opposed to URP joining JAP, saying supporters of the Jubilee coalition were never consulted.

But the Deputy President has stood firm saying JAP's formation was aimed at ensuring unity in government and avoid a situation where members of the ruling coalition engage in unnecessary competition on who is superior to the other.