Jubilee weighing options on law change, says Tuju

Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju. [File, Standard]

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s party has been meeting with different cadres of leaders to work on their position on the proposed referendum.

The meetings that started last month come at a time the chorus on the push to change the 2010 Constitution has reached its fever-pitch.

Already, the party has met all its County Assembly speakers and majority leaders to seek their views on the change of the law.

Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju says they have been meeting the leaders from across the country as part of routine consultations and continuous party engagement exercises.

Tuju says the issues of Constitution change may not have been necessarily the main agenda in their meetings but it has come up strongly, pitting those in support against those who oppose.

He says the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) will meet and deliberate on the matter before a decision made at an appropriate time.

President Kenyatta, who is the party leader, has been silent on the matter and instead insisted that his focus is on the implementation of the Big Four agenda.

His deputy William Ruto endorsed the referendum push two weeks ago, but with caveat that it should not interfere with the Jubilee’s effort to change the lives of Kenyans.

President’s advice

Leaders from Rift Valley have vowed not to support the referendum in case the government fails to convene a consultative meeting to address the reason why they should support it.

According to Senate Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen, they are ready to support the proposed referendum only after the president and his deputy have convened a Jubilee Party parliamentary meeting.

Murkomen says they expect the President to advise on whether they should abandon the Big 4 agenda and concentrate on the referendum issue.

“We are not opposed to the push, we want guidance from Uhuru and Ruto on the issue. We want to listen to them first to give us a way forward,” Murkomen said.