Jubilee Party to be unveiled next month

Jubilee Party steering committee Co-Chairman Kiraitu Murungi. (Photo: File/Standard) 

Jubilee Party will be unveiled after the Political Parties Amendment Bill becomes law next month.

And the party’s steering committee will meet this week to draw the schedule for the final phase of the nationwide political outreach.

The second phase will include Mt Kenya, Rift Valley, Coast and North East regions as the committee popularises the party that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto plan to use to seek re-election in 2017.

Steering Committee Co-Chairman Kiraitu Murungi Monday said they would popularise the party in traditional strongholds before they eventually launch it. Co-Chairman Noah Wekesa, said the party would unveil a more elaborate campaign once it is unveiled next month.

Make inroads

“In a month’s time, Jubilee Party will be unveiled officially. We will then start grassroots campaigns to sell our coalition policies to the electorate. Jubilee will make inroads in the entire country,” Mr Wekesa said.

The committee will meet senators, MPs, governors and MCAs to build consensus ahead of the expected merger.

“We previously had covered Western, Eastern and Nairobi. We are now finishing the remaining part of the country tour before we unveil the party. The National Assembly passed the law (Political Parties Amendment Bill) and it will be in the Senate this week. Immediately the Senate finishes with the law we will be free to unveil the party,” Mr Kiraitu said.

Kiraitu, who is also the Meru senator, said all the necessary documents were ready for affiliate parties to fill and announced that they would hold a national convention. He added that they had only gone slow as they waited for the Senate to pass the Political Parties Amendment Bill.

The bill, passed by the National Assembly two weeks ago, seeks to create a legal platform for the merger of political parties, with Jubilee likely to be among the first beneficiaries.

The bill reads: “A political party may merge with another political party by forming a new political party or merging into an already existing political party...Upon receipt of the merger instrument, the registrar shall immediately withdraw and cancel the certificates of registration of all the political parties that have merged.”

“There had been speculation by the prophets of doom that things were not working. I assure you they will be in for a rude shock when we eventually finalise the merger to come up with one of the most formidable parties in Kenya,” said Kiraitu.

Party structures

He said the merger was a process not an event.

“We might seem to have slowed down (but) we are firming things up and will come up with a strong party, built through consensus and enjoying wide acceptability,” he added.

In November, committee and national executive members agreed on the Jubilee Party’s structures, colours, logo and slogan in a retreat at the Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha with the leaders of the 12 parties affiliated to the Jubilee coalition. The affiliate parties that make up the ruling coalition include TNA and URP.