• In the Jubilee constitution, the President and the Deputy President are automatic party leader and deputy party leader respectively.
• However, it could be argued that Uhuru and DP Ruto are elected and not appointed hence may not be affected by the petition.
A Jubilee official in Mombasa county wants President Uhuru Kenyatta to relinquish his position as party leader, saying he is going against the Constitution.
The Constitution states that a state officer cannot hold a position in a political party.
In the Jubilee constitution, the President and the Deputy President are automatic party leader and deputy party leader respectively.
But Mombasa Jubilee secretary general Patrick Kabundu has moved to court seeking orders to have the party hold fresh elections in a case that could potentially change the political sphere in the country.
Kabundu wants the court to declare all state officers are disqualified from holding a political party post.
The lawyer wants the court to order the JP National Delegates Convention and the National Governing Council to elect new national officials within three months according to the constitution.
Should Kabundu have his way in court, the ruling may also affect ODM.
However, it could be argued that Uhuru and his deputy Ruto are elected and not appointed hence may not be affected by the petition.
Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju, however, may be affected because he has been appointed Cabinet Secretary without portfolio.
This may also affect ODM chairman John Mbadi who is the National Assembly Minority Leader.
Kabundu says the political turmoil in the country is a creation of a weak Registrar of Political Parties and not the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission.
He argues that the registrar is weak because she is holding the position on an acting capacity and thus may not be independent and free from influence due to fear of losing her position.
Ann Nderitu took over from long-serving Lucy Ndung’u last year in August.
Ndung’u had served for eight years in an acting capacity.
Kabundu wants the court to compel President Kenyatta to put in place mechanisms of appointing a permanent Registrar of Political Parties.
In 2012, a three-judge bench of Mary Kasango, E. Muriithi and G. Nzioka disqualified Uhuru, who was then the deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, from holding the Kanu chairman position.
The Jubilee official also wants the party forced to open bank accounts at county levels to facilitate devolving political party funds.
He argues a weak registrar of political parties means certain requirements like parties having branch offices in at least half of the counties are not being enforced.
He wants JP to be forced to maintain the Mombasa secretary general’s office as required by the Political Parties Act 2011.
Kabundu also wants the court to issue orders stopping in the registrar of political parties from issuing any parties fund to Jubilee until the matter is heard and determined.
This might halt the operations of the ruling party at the county level.
Should he have his way, the court will stop Jubilee governors, MPs and MCAs from remitting their monthly deductions to the party until the matter is determined.
Kabundu has already served the Jubilee Party and the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties with the notice of motion. They were expected to respond on Thursday.
The hearing of the notice of motion will be held on September 27.
Edited by R.Wamochie