Former presidential hopefuls Martha Karua and Peter Kenneth have been told to dissolve their parties and join the yet to be launched Jubilee Party.
On Thursday, a group of Mt Kenya Interparty grassroots leaders asked the two to consider folding the Narc Kenya and Kenya National Congress (KNC) to ensure the region go to the 2017 elections as one formidable team.
Led by the Chairman of the forum Mr Wambugu Nyamu, the leaders further appealed to Karua and Kenneth to drop their presidential ambition and instead support President Uhuru and his Deputy William Ruto.
"They should help in the quest to merge the various parties into singular, formidable and national political entities," Nyamu told a press the in Nyeri town.
He said Karua and Kenneth stand a better chance of competing for other elective post under the UhuruRuto JP party as opposed to opposition.
"We extend our appeal to other parties in Central Kenya who hold the same progressive ideologies to join and help fight against the culture of retrogressive tribal and regional parties," Nyamu explained.
The Democratic Party (DP) and Party of National Unity (PNU) have so far declined to wind up, but said they will not be fielding a presidential candidate but will support UhuruRuto 2017 re-election bid.
"We will be reaching out to parties that have declined to follow suit to fold," James Mwangi a convener added.
Ndegwa Kiragu, a convener asked all elected leaders including governor, senators and MPs holding positions in the merger steering committee to step down.
"Spearheading the merger was a call of duty and a demonstration of statesmanship, but time has come for them to hang their boots and compete on equal footing with other aspirant," Ndegwa stated.
He said the formation of a singular party would go a long way in ensuring stronger, participatory and accountable Wanjiku driven political institutions that was key to expansion of the democratic space.
He observed that singular outfit spelt hope of ending unfair and mudslinging political contestations that has for long been associated with political parties.
They at the same time called on the IEBC to ensure they deliver credible, free and fair nominations exercise to avert possible fall outs.
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