Is Jubilee Party living a political lie?

The late Chinua Achebe in his book Things Fall Apart said that a toad does not run in the day for nothing. It started with Sonko’s allegations that there are night meetings to deny the Deputy President a chance to taste the tenancy of the covetous house in the hill. Then traction accelerated as time went by.

And in the recent days, the friction within the ruling Jubilee party is not a secret that even a bedroom can hide. The seethes within the Party partners if it is anything to go by, then the rosy days of Jubilee’s honeymoon of the first term have vanished. The days of same white shirts and red twin ties are over. The time of “my brother William” is no more but instead replaced by “huyu”. Perhaps bindu bichechanga-things change.

The cracks are so obvious that if ignored, the consequences are eminent fall out. But also the pretence is undeniably self evident. The same Party, singing different tunes and pretending to dance the same style is so hypocritical. We do not need a person dressed in angelic insignia to tell us that all is not well in Jubilee.

If Leaders of Majority both in the Senate and National Assembly can openly rebel and castigate a Presidential decree, then why should we be forced to believe they are pamoja-together? It disturbs a lot when Rift Valley MPs opposing the president’s decree of lifestyle audit and war on graft but still maintain Jubilee is one. Why should it take over four hours’ closed door meeting to unanimously say you support the government that you belong to? We cannot be hoodwinked into such narratives. Kipchumba Murkomen has both on live television interview and social media disagreed bitterly with the President’s directive which he considers right to divergent views. But it could do the party good for him to approach the President privately if he means well.

The premature preoccupation of the 2022 succession politics is one of the time bombs yet to explode. While the President is so clear on the agenda he intends to accomplish; the big four, the Deputy President’s wing seem focussed on the takeover after Uhuru at all costs. These divergent points will never be reconciled any time soon. And they are the bitter divorce points.

But President Uhuru has nothing to lose anyway except going into oblivion as the President who left no legacy. Standard Gauge Railway unlike the Kibaki roads, will not impact majority of Kenyans. Hence, if the big four agenda fail, then the president should ensure that war on graft succeeds. Even if it breaks Jubilee, so be it.

When the Jubilee Secretary General, Raphael Tuju puts on a strong face to tell us that there’s no crisis to warrant Jubilee MPs’ Parliamentary Group meeting, it can only be equated to a man coming out of a house on fire to tell us all is well. While he admitted there are wrangles, he downplayed their impact on the party fall out.

Now that the opposition’s vox populi, Raila Odinga is enjoying the opulence of power than some of those who fought for it in August and October last year, the opposition is literally crippled. And of course nobody is leaving Jubilee to join the opposition. Raila is also the reason for internal fights. But Kenyan’s prayer should be that there be no peace in Jubilee. When they are at war with each other, they become each other’ watchman. The wanton accretion of affluence corruptly will reduce.

Jubilee should admit that like coalition governments world over, competing interests, differences and gridlocks are common and that is what it is struggling with. Although URP and TNA folded to form one Party, you can tell that the stumps weren’t uprooted. The alignments are indicative of the germinated affiliate parties and the polygamous is finding a habitation in Jubilee’s house. Betrayals are the order of the day. Trust is a past tense.

I think Jubilee is living a lie. Although the pot is cool from outside, inside things are cooking. Perhaps we wait for the white pontificate smoke-I guess black one- from the Jubilee house. I may be vindicated or implicated. The conspiracy of the gods of coalition wars are coming home in Jubilee to brood. Perhaps they should start talking amicable separation before bitter divorce is inevitable. Time will tell.