Koigi joins Jubilee and enters race for senator seat

Koigi wa Wamwere

Veteran politician Koigi wa Wamwere has folded up his Chama Cha Mwananchi party and joined the Jubilee Party.

Mr Wamwere declared in Nakuru Wednesday that he would be running for the senator's seat in next year's polls, adding that he would be among thousands of Jubilee leaders at this weekend's Jubilee Party National Delegates Conference at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi.

The one-time Information assistant minister said his move to join President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto was well thought out and timely, adding he wanted to be "a midwife" of a party that would transform the country's politics.

"The merger of those 12 parties brings hope to people from minority communities and ensures that they actively participate in national politics," said the former lawmaker who was instrumental in the push for pluralism.

Wamwere has served a jail term and was even detained for being critical of past regimes. In 1975, he wrote an article critical of Jomo Kenyatta in the Sunday Post newspaper and was subsequently detained and held in prison for three years.

Meanwhile, Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri has refuted claims by two MCAs from his constituency that he has influenced the list of names for this weekend's merger conference.