Rival TNA members fight over control of Jubilee Alliance Party as merger looms

A JAP faction led by Wambugu Nyamu was recently barred from holding a rally in Nanyuki. [PHOTO: KIBATA KIHU/ STANDARD]

Confusion continues to dog Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) branches across the country as factions fight for the party leadership ahead of the planned TNA and URP merger.

Controversy in the party which President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto plan to use as their vehicle for the 2017 elections has deepened especially in TNA strongholds.

The wrangles have spilled over to Nakuru and Laikipia, as politicians position themselves ahead of the elections. Last week, there was a standoff among JAP Reloaded members in Nanyuki after the party’s voter registration awareness drive was cancelled at the eleventh hour.

Security officers said they had received intelligence that a rival faction did not want the planned rally to proceed. Police officers were deployed around Central Park which was the venue of the rally.

But a rival group comprising Laikipia JAP Coordinator Michael Kabochi, Women Leader Lucy Njoki and Youth Leader Stanely Kamau dismissed Mr Wachira Gituku and his faction as political brokers.

But Gituku said they had mobilised personal resources to organise the rally and urged youths to take Identity Cards and register as voters. “Our aim was not to play politics but to urge youths to take IDs and register as voters to ensure the President gets  re-elected,” he said.

In Nakuru, a recent meeting to reconcile rival factions ended in disarray after one of the groups accused the other of introducing dissolution of TNA and URP into the agenda.