Jubilee nightmare as chaos rocks county leaders’ elections

Former Jubilee Party Coast Co-ordinator Farid Ahmed Swaleh (in a red kanzu) joins other party delegates from Mombasa County as they protest against branch elections which was marred by chaos after a rival group allied to Suleiman Shabhal said its candidates had won the branch elections held on Wednesday after 6pm, December 15, 2016. [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

Jubilee Party officials are putting on a brave face in the wake of violence witnessed during elections of county interim party officials.

The party, which was launched in September as President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto’s vehicle of choice for their re-election next year, has witnessed unprecedented chaos as incumbent office holders and those aspiring to unseat them disagreed on interim officials.

But some senior party officials see the squabbles as a sign that the newly-minted outfit is popular among members. National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, head of Jubilee secretariat Raphael Tuju and acting Secretary General Veronica Maina said they would be worried if there was no such passion and flare in the process.

However, despite these assurances, some of the parties which refused to be swallowed by Jubilee have already started receiving defectors and more aspirants have vowed to defect if nominations will not be fair.

The leaders said the confusion was blown out of proportion by the media, noting most counties witnessed a smooth process in picking 19 officials.

"There are no chaos going on in Jubilee elections. That is a creation of the media. I can assure you that all branches will elect their officials peacefully and they will be ready to forward the names to the Registrar of Political Parties by December 20, 2016," said Duale.

"What you are seeing is a fierce contest for positions because Jubilee is popular across the country. When a party is popular, that is what you would expect," he said.

Mr Tuju termed the violence a friendly contest. He said there was no single injury reported in the first three days of the nominations.

"I would be disappointed if we did not have that kind of passion. There was no physical fight. People were just shouting at each other. To that extent, you have to give us some credit because we have done a great job," said Tuju.

He admitted that politicians had a lot of interest over the individuals who were being picked to run the party and tried to influence the process their way.

"Politicians pay subscription and there was no way we could cut them off from the process," he said.

Tuju said participation by politicians in the process was good for the party since those finally picked can check on each other and avoid biases by those elected.

Jubilee Party was formed by merging of 12 political parties, a scenario Tuju said contributed to the flares witnessed in the countrywide process.

Uhuru and Ruto blocked contestants from seeking these positions to prevent them from using their positions to push their individual agenda at the expense of selling the party's manifesto.

Ms Maina said the party will use consensus to identify officials in areas that did not agree on interim officials. "We have made tremendous headway in the process and we are determined to have credible officials in all counties, who are accepted by all camps," said Maina.

On Wednesday, Embu Governor Martin Wambora and Runyenjes MP Cecily Mbarire met the party's secretariat after elections aborted. Wambora, Mbarire and Manyatta MP John Muchiri, all from the Embu community, ganged up against Senator Lenny Kivuti and Mbeere North MP Charles Njagagua, both from Mbeere.

Maina said they will employ internal mechanisms to identify officials accepted by both sides in the county.