- Jubilee chairman for Jomvu subcounty Vitalis Wanyangu accused those who left the party of being moles.
- Wanyangu said that no communication had come from the party’s national office directing the members to leave.
Image: LABAN WALLOGA
Members of the Jubilee Party in Mombasa have disputed reports that they have ditched the Azimio la Umoja Coalition to support the UDA governor candidate Hassan Omar.
Led by the Jubilee Mombasa branch secretary Nelson Akwaka, they said their commitment to the party and their its leader President Uhuru Kenyatta is unshakeable as they pledged to campaign for ODM candidate Abdulswamd Nassir.
“We are very much behind our party leader President Uhuru Kenyatta. He gave us the direction to support Nassir for governor, the course remains intact,” Akwaka said.
The Jubilee official was addressing the media at Uhuru gardens on Tuesday evening.
The press conference came after some Jubilee members ditched the party over the weekend to support Omar’s bid to be the next Mombasa governor.
Akwaka said that, as a party, they did not field a governor candidate, but instead chose to support the Azimio candidate as directed by the party leader.
“Mombasa remains an Azimio zone and Nassir is our torchbearer. His track record speaks volume,” he said.
He also read malice in the postponement of the gubernatorial elections in Mombasa and Kakamega, saying that it was a plot to affect voter turnout for the presidential race in the two Azimio strongholds.
Jubilee chairman for Jomvu subcounty Vitalis Wanyangu accused those who left the party of being moles.
He said that they were exercising the democratic right as enshrined in the constitution, but they should not associate the party with their decision to join UDA.
Wanyangu said that no communication had come from the party’s national office directing the members to leave.
He urged Jubilee members and Mombasa residents to turn out in large numbers next Monday to vote for Nassir.
“We remain intact as a party and we reassure Nassir our support to be the next Mombasa governor,” he said.
The Kikuyu Council of Elders Mombasa patron Francis Kamau said that the entire Gema community in Mombasa was solidly behind the Azimio candidate.
He accused those who left of having selfish interests and failing to head their party leader's direction.
“Stop wasting your time and lying to yourself, Nassir is our next governor,” Kamau said.
He said that Mombasa was very calm as they awaited to elect the next governor.
On Monday, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said the remaining elections will be held next week Monday after holding a consultative meeting with candidates from the affected areas.
This was after gubernatorial candidates from Mombasa and Kakamega went to court following the suspension of the elections indefinitely by the IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati.
Last Thursday, Nassir led the Mombasa ODM brigade to file a case at the Mombasa High Court to compel the commission to conduct the elections.
The case was filed by three Mombasa residents, Thani Mohammed Mwalavya, Moses Aran Oindo, and Kelvin Nzuki Muthini.
They listed the IEBC, Chebukati, the Interior ministry and the Attorney General as the first, second, third and fourth respondents respectively.
(edited by Amol Awuor)