• New party expects to be fully registered by April and will likely be a beneficiary of any fallout in the ruling Jubilee when it holds its elections in March.
• Party already has offices and interim officials in 29 counties.
Image: JACK OWUOR
The Service Party has become the latest entrant in Central Kenya as leaders position themselves in readiness for the 2022 elections.
The new political vehicle formed by a group of youth has already been issued with an interim certificate of registration by the Registrar of Political Parties.
TSP expects to be fully registered by April and will likely be a beneficiary of any fallout in the ruling Jubilee when it holds its elections in March.
Last year, leaders in the region formed two other parties: the Civic Renewal Party (CRP) and Transformation National Alliance Party (TNAP).
New parties have been formed in Central Kenya despite the dominance of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ruling Jubilee Party, which is currently going through turbulent times.
CRP is associated with Murang’a Governor Mwangi Wa Iria while TNAP is linked to Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria.
Apart from Jubilee, Central Kenya also has NARC-Kenya, Safina Party, Democratic Party, PNU and GNU.
TSP interim chairman Kariuki Munyoroku on Monday told the Star that the party welcomes prominent politicians to join them as long as they don't bully them. “We are inviting top politicians from the region to join us as long as they don't dictate to us how we will operate."
TSP already has offices and interim officials in 29 counties. Other interim officials are Prudence Kendi (secretary general), Naomi Turorei (treasurer) and Fatuma Rashid (founding member) among others.
Supporters of TSP among them Laikipia Deputy Governor John Mwaniki have dismissed leaders from the region who are against formation new parties.
“People are forming parties but when we form ours, it becomes a problem. We want our party, one which we will use to seek elective positions come 2022,” Mwaniki said.
Laikipia West MP Patrick Mariru said the new party will enter into alliances with other outfits and will be used to safeguard the interests of the region.
“We will not agree to be pushed around in Central. [Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mwangi] Kiunjuri, organise us, plan and lead us. You are our driver,” Mariru told a gathering in Naro Moru, Nyeri county.
Efforts to reach Kiunjuri for comment were futile as his phone had been switched off.
Wa Iria is said to be intending to use the CRP as a political vehicle to venture into national politics and as a bargaining tool in the Mt Kenya region.
When it was issued with an interim certificate of registration in August last year, TNAP was given 180 days to meet certain requirements before it is fully registered.
TNAP is expected to recruit at least 1,000 members in at least 24 counties and open offices in the devolved units and have its headquarters in one more county. The party is also expected to propose governing bodies within the same period.
The Registrar of Political Parties gazetted CRP in a notice dated June 21, 2019.
Some leaders from Mt Kenya region have been dismissing the new parties, reiterating that they will remain in Jubilee.
The parties are seen as an alternative to those in the Mt Kenya region who felt orphaned by the dissolution of The National Alliance (TNA) party.
Edited by R.Wamochie