Takeover: Uhuru hands Jubilee leadership to Matiang'i

Uhuru hands Jubilee leadership to Matiang’i. [Courtesy]

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has handed over Jubilee Party leadership to former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, bringing his tenure at the helm of the party to an end.

Uhuru said he would remain within Jubilee as a senior adviser and senior member, with Matiang’i taking over his position pending confirmation by the party’s National Delegates Convention (NDC).

“I will not leave Jubilee. I have decided that I will remain as a senior adviser and a senior member of Jubilee,” Uhuru said.

“As we wait for the NDC, Fred Matiang’i will step up and take my position as the party leader.”

According to Uhuru, the decision comes as Jubilee restructures its leadership and prepares for the 2027 General Election.

Uhuru described Matiang’i as an intelligent and honest leader who delivers, does not engage in unnecessary conflict and loves Kenyans.

He urged Jubilee members to support Matiang’i as the party prepares for the next phase of its political life.

“I am asking you, as Jubilee members, to accept Fred Matiang’i to take my position,” he said.

Uhuru also cautioned Jubilee supporters against responding to political attacks with insults, urging them instead to sell the party’s policies.

“Votes are about a vision. Sell your policies,” he said.

Matiang’i takes charge

Matiang’i accepted the handover, thanking Uhuru for his leadership and guidance and recalling his experience working in the former President’s administration.

“I accept the appointment to take charge of the Jubilee Party as its party leader. I thank you, Uhuru, for your leadership and guidance as a party and as a leader in the country.”

“We have worked together and you have advised me on so many things. I have had a front-row seat in your government,” he added.

Matiang’i, who said he was emotional about the transition, pledged to preserve what he described as Jubilee’s founding commitment to inclusion.

“The way you have led Jubilee as a party, it was founded to have inclusion in the politics of our country. And what I have learned is how you valued inclusion, and I pray that I will do my best to ensure that Jubilee continues that,” said Matiang’i.

He called on Jubilee members to work together as the party prepares for the 2027 General Election, describing the next election as a “unity merge to the future of our country.”

“I am ready to work with people who are interested in the progress of our country,” he said.

Matiang’i also appealed to members involved in internal disputes to use the party’s structures rather than the courts to resolve their differences.

“I want to invite all our brothers; let us not go to court. We have structures to sort out our issues,” he said.

But he paired the appeal for unity with a call for discipline, saying Jubilee could not expect Kenyans to entrust it with government if the party could not demonstrate that it was capable of organising itself.

“I want to be an honest leader and tell you that we need to be disciplined people. We also cannot be trusted by the people of Kenya with the government if we do not demonstrate to them that we are capable of organising ourselves,” Matiang’i said.

“Discipline is destiny. We are going nowhere if we are not disciplined people. But again, discipline and democracy are not mutually exclusive. We can be democratic, but we also have to be disciplined as we go forward to build this party.”

Matiang’i promised to engage leaders and members across the country as he takes charge of the party.

“In the coming days, we will have opportunities to engage across the country and we will meet with all of you leaders wherever you are and work with you. I promise you, we will listen to you, grassroots leaders,” he said.

He also pledged to give his best to the party and asked for God's guidance as he takes on the new role.

“I pledge my best as a human being, but I also pray that the God who has brought me this far will not let me put Him to shame. I will not let you down,” he said.

From ruling party to opposition

Jubilee was formed in 2016 through the merger of 11 political parties, including Uhuru's The National Alliance (TNA) and William Ruto's United Republican Party (URP), ahead of the 2017 General Election.

The party retained the presidency under Uhuru and Ruto in the October 2017 repeat presidential election, after the Supreme Court annulled the initial August poll. Jubilee and its allies also secured majorities in Parliament in the 2017 election.

Matiang’i was himself part of the administration that Jubilee helped form.

He served in several Cabinet positions under Uhuru, including Education and Interior. He served as Education Cabinet Secretary from 2016 to 2018 before moving to the Interior Ministry, where he served until the end of Uhuru's administration in 2022.

His elevation now brings him to the top of the same political outfit under which he served in government.

Years of wrangles

The leadership transition comes after years of internal disputes that have repeatedly split Jubilee's leadership.

The party was divided after the 2022 General Election, when some Jubilee politicians shifted allegiance from the Azimio coalition, which the party had joined, to President William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza administration.

The disagreements developed into competing factions around party officials Jeremiah Kioni and Kanini Kega, with questions over who had legitimate authority within the party ending up before the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal and the courts.

In 2023, a Kega-led faction announced that Uhuru had been removed as party leader and installed Sabina Chege in an acting capacity, while the rival faction associated with Kioni continued to recognise Uhuru's leadership. The competing claims became part of a prolonged battle over control of the party.

The party subsequently embarked on restructuring ahead of the 2027 election.

In October 2025, its National Executive Council appointed Matiang’i deputy party leader and endorsed him as Jubilee's presidential candidate for the 2027 election.

In January 2026, Kioni was moved from secretary-general to deputy party leader in charge of operations, while Moitalel Ole Kenta took over as secretary-general, in another restructuring of the party. Matiang’i remained deputy party leader and the party's presidential candidate.

The handover also comes against the backdrop of a legal dispute over whether retired presidents can hold formal positions in political parties.

On September 14, Justice Lawrence Mugambi upheld Section 6 of the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act, which bars a retired president from holding office in a political party more than six months after leaving State House.

The legal position, however, shifted on Monday, September 21, when Justice Bahati Mwamuye declared the same restriction unconstitutional.

Uhuru's departure from the party leadership marks the end of a nearly decade-long tenure at the helm of Jubilee and the beginning of a new chapter under Matiang’i.