Matiang'i calls on Jubilee defectors to return ahead of Ruto contest

Jubilee presidential hopeful Fred Matiang’i during the official opening of the Party’s Rift Valley Regional and Nakuru County offices at Section 58, Nakuru City. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Jubilee Party presidential hopeful Fred Matiang'i has extended an olive branch to party members who ditched the party to join other political parties.

He argued that the party has embarked on a campaign to revamp and reclaim its lost glory after the 2022 general election.

"We are ready to accommodate you at the party after the last polls," he said.

Matiang'i said the party was in a bid to form the next government after next year’s polls.

He spoke during this year’s annual iftar dinner held in Kongowea in Mombasa county at the residence of party organising secretary Yasir Noor.  

The former Cabinet Secretary stated that the party was prepared to prove its critics wrong by demonstrating that it had done a better job when it was in power.

Matiang'i, who was accompanied by deputy party leader Ms Beatrice Gambo and Party Deputy Secretary General Mr Zack Kìnùthia, said he was ready to show the party's performance during the party's regime.

He said that under retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, he initiated the Dongo Kundu bypass project in Mombasa, which is expected to create hundreds of jobs.

"We want to get back into the government after winning the 2027 polls to complete the development projects which our party leader had initiated. We did a better job," he said.

He told the well-attended forum that it was high time Kenyans participated fully in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise to bring change after the 2027 polls.

Kinuthia asked aspirants for elective posts in the 2027 elections to make use of the party as a vehicle to form the next government.

Kìnùthia regretted that the country was heading in the wrong direction, with the solution being voting out the Kenya Kwanza administration in next year’s polls.

Noor said there was a dredging of the port of Mombasa currently, which has affected the livelihoods of fishermen in the Coast region.

Ms Gambo said the current regime has formed a habit of claiming it initiated development projects while the credit should go to the Jubilee leadership under retired President Kenyatta.