Kiraitu JP meeting illegitimate, says party’s interim official

A Jubilee Party meeting convened by Senator Kiraitu Murungi in Meru town has triggered protests in some quarters and underscored the tensions that have been building in the party that was launched on September 10.

Although Kiraitu, a member of the JP steering committee before the party swallowed up other parties, is reported to have summoned all aspirants in the county for the meeting, some of those invited, and registered interim officials of JP have said the Meru Senator has no authority to do so.

According to advertisements that have been running on local FM stations in the past week, the meeting will be held at the Thiiri Convention Centre on the fridges of Meru town.

However, Saturday JP vice chairman David Murathe dismissed Murungi’s role, saying the steering committee’s mandate ended after the merger and the Senator cannot speak on behalf of the party.

Mr Murathe, who is part of the team that has been registered at the Registrar of Political Party offices as interim officials, described Kiraitu and his team as “ordinary members of the party.”

This came as another co-chair of the steering committee Noah Wekesa was in Kirinyaga speaking on party issues and wrangles in counties.

During JP’s much-publicised launch, President Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto did not name interim officials to steer the party as had been widely anticipated, and this appears to have encouraged others to act as though they are speaking on behalf of the party.

Because new party officials were not named during the merger, officials of the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP) were temporarily registered as interim officials as JP waits for the President and his deputy to name the new line up.

Saturday, Murathe said only the interim officials had the mandate to run the party as they wait for the party leader (the President) and deputy leader (the DP) to appoint substantive office holders. “The work of the members of the steering committee ended when the merger was successful. They are now ordinary members of the party,” he told The Standard on Sunday.

Murathe, a former Gatanga MP, also reiterated that the party had no officials at the county level, and noted that those claiming they were JP officials were illegitimate.

“No incumbent elected leader or an aspirant will be an official of the party as the President has clearly stated. Nominations in JP is one issue which we must get it right; our two leaders have insisted on a free and fair nomination and we are not going short of that.”

Murathe said by virtue of declaring that they were vying for political seats, Kiraitu and Dr Wekesa had disqualified themselves as potential officials of JP.

“The only politicians who will be at the helm of the party are the President and his deputy, who members gave the mandate as party leader and deputy party leader,” Murathe added. Sources disclosed that the President and his deputy are likely to release the list of JP officials in two weeks. “We are aware that the process of picking officials is on course. We expect the President and his deputy to unveil it any time soon since the uncertainty being witnessed is not good for the party,” the source said. Another source revealed that a delicate balancing act to avert a fallout had delayed the naming of interim officials.

Leaders of political parties that that dissolved to merge their parties with JP have been lobbying for prime positions in the new entity.

Modalities

Insiders say that although The National Alliance and United Republican Party were seen as the major parties folding to form JP, other parties are staking a claim and want to have their former officials in the top JP hierarchy.

“The problem is that no one wants to be seen as an underdog. They want to be seen as equals and that is why we are going to wait longer for the officials,” our source opined.

But Murathe dismissed reports of discontent saying that the ball was in the President and his deputy’s court, “who are very keen to have a united country.” He said the party was being steered by Kenyatta and Ruto as well as the interim officials.

“My thinking is that as the President and his deputy unveil the officials, all the executive directors of the merged parties will be incorporated in the secretariat,” Murathe said.

But as of now, the party is yet to launch any officials or offices at the county level, in reference many offices that are being opened by politicians all across JP strongholds in the Mt Kenya region.

“These (the offices) are like M-pesa shops where no one stops you from painting your shop with the M-Pesa colour. But does it mean you are Safaricom, its distributors or agents?” posed Murathe.

Speaking in Kirinyaga, Wekesa, who was a co-chair of the steering committee that crafted the merger, said no county branch elections can take place until the National Executive Committee meets in two weeks’ time to work out modalities.

“Once the Jubilee NEC meets in two weeks’ time it will constitute a national secretariat which will in turn work out modalities on how the party county branches and sub-county branches will be conducted otherwise those who have held the elections should know it was an exercise in futility,’’ he explained.