A crisis has rocked President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee after the party moved to sack nearly 70 employees, with directors and senior managers among the casualties.
The Star has established that acting executive director Wambui Gichuru has sent out termination letters to tens of officers, sparking a standoff that could further disintegrate the ruling party.
There is speculation that Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju was kept in the dark about the purge, triggering confusion.
The affected staffers have threatened to sue the party if Tuju and Uhuru fail to act swiftly to reverse the decision that they termed a plot to forcefully take over the party.
“If these instructions are coming from the party leader, then we want to tell him that his people are not executing it properly,” former TNA executive director Joseph Mathai told the Star.
“And if it is not coming from his office, we need him to also understand that there are some crooks who are fashioning the party to their own projections.”
Mathai, a straight-shooting man, was among the affected directors.
Already, the outfit has been rocked by internal wrangles that have seen its members split down the middle, with those allied to deputy leader and Deputy President William Ruto following him to UDA.
In her letter, however, Gichuru, who has been serving as finance director, said her move was sanctioned by the party's national management committee.
“Please, note that the NMC, in its meeting held on September 30, 2021, resolved to undertake a reorganisation of the structure of the party,” reads a letter dated October 8 and addressed to one of the directors.
“The exercise has necessitated the removal of certain job positions and consultancy services.
“This is, therefore, to inform you that your consultancy services as regional director have been terminated with effect from October 8, 2021."
Ironically, the changes were not communicated by Tuju, who heads the secretariat and would ordinarily communicate to staff on such developments.
Yesterday, Tuju termed Gichuru’s letters as a miscommunication, adding that all the affected staffers had been summoned to the party’s Pangani headquarters for redeployment.
“It’s not true [that they have been sacked]. It was a miscommunication. We have asked them to come to the headquarters and the NMC will also meet them tomorrow (Wednesday) to explain what happened,” Tuju told the Star.
Among those affected are 11 of 12 former executive directors of the 12 parties that folded and merged into the Jubilee Party.
The parties were GNU, URP, Tip Tip, TNA, Ford People, UDF, NFK, RC, APK, JAP and UPK.
Those affected include former TNA executive director Joseph Mathai and former APK legal director Frank Mwendoni.
Former URP director in charge of Maa region John Kamoiro and former UPK director in charge of Mt Kenya East John Ntuiga were also sacked.
Others are former Ford People South Rift/Nyanza director Kennedy Swanyo and former RC director in charge of Central Antony Kooro.
Other staff members affected by the terminations are Mary Solobit, Nick Bore, Peter Kooro, Swale Kadara, Susan Maina, and Idle Mohammed.
A fire-breathing Mathai called on the party leader to rein in officers who are hellbent on rocking the party.
Mathai alleged a well-orchestrated schemed by some force to take over the party.
“While we may be the backroom politicians, we will not take this lying down. We will use all the means to see that this goes to the desk of the party leader and party leadership across the country.
“We are going to escalate this even to the court. There are ways that people are hired and ways that people are dismissed,” he said.
Some party members, including MPs allied to the President, have been calling for the removal of the top officials as a way of revamping the party following a spate of by-election losses including in the President’s Mt Kenya backyard.
“At the moment, we’re doing some fumigation, we’re doing some in-house cleaning. Tunatafutana na paka hapa na panya pale, ile inasumbua sisi tunatoa, we clean our house,” Kieni MP Kanini Kega had said in July.
“Jubilee is a strong party, there are a few bad people around Jubilee. The best thing we need to do is restructuring and also involve a lot of young people,” Murang’a Woman Rep Sabina Chege was also quoted as saying.
The party lost parliamentary by-elections in Kiambaa and Juja.
-Edited by SKanyara
