Former President Uhuru Kenyatta and his allies have hatched a strategy to kick out dissidents and reclaim full control of Jubilee, which they insist will not support President William Ruto.
The Star has established Uhuru plans to exploit the May 22 special National Delegates Convention to push out rebels who are agitating for a divorce with former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Once firmly in charge, the former ruling party will go for nominated lawmakers who have turned their backs on Azimio in a ruthless fightback plan.
MPs Sabina Chege (nominated) and Kanini Kega (EALA) who are the face of the rebellion against Uhuru hold their seats courtesy of the party.
Former Nominated MP Hassan Osman dashed to court on Tuesday to have the NDC blocked. The case is pending.
To engineer the changes, Uhuru's right-hand men are going flat out to seal every loophole that could see the NDC flop.
The convention is seen as the most realistic avenue for Uhuru to reclaim full control as most of his former allies pledge allegiance to President Ruto.
Jubilee has been riddled with factional wrangles pitting Uhuru loyalists against those sympathetic to President Ruto, mainly elected members of Parliament.
Two weeks ago, the Ruto faction announced that they had removed Uhuru as party leader and replaced him with Nominated MP Sabina Chege.
But on Thursday, Jubilee vice chairman David Murathe and secretary general Jeremiah Kioni convened a National Governing Council meeting to plan for the NDC.
NGC is the second highest organ of the Party after the NDC.
It has powers to, among others, review or formulate policies of the Party for approval by the NDC.
“The NGC shall make policy and administrative decisions on behalf of the National Delegates Convention which cannot wait until the next National Delegates Convention, and to present such decisions for ratification at the next National Delegates Convention,” the party document states.
According to the Jubilee Constitution, it's at the NDC — the party's supreme organ — where the national officials of the party are elected.
Present at the Thursday meeting were county party officials from across the country.
“If these people have supporters, let them bring them on that (NDC) day and tell Jubilee to leave Azimio,” Murathe dared their rivals.
The county officials, who are deemed loyal to the former President, are influential and powerful grassroots mobilisers who would determine who will be elected to the party positions.
The Jubilee Party constitution vests a lot of power in its leader.
It says, for example, that the party leader can convene a meeting of any party organ at any time.
“The Party Leader may attend or summon a meeting of any organ of the party at any time,” Article 9.1 of the party constitution states.
He shall also have overall authority over the other officials and members of the party.
The party constitution stipulates that NDC is the supreme organ of the party, with powers to elect officials and review policies and laws to streamline the outfit and its activities.
“The NDC shall have the powers to elect from among the eligible members of the party, the national officials of the party in accordance with this Constitution,” the constitution states.
On Thursday, Uhuru’s troops blamed the infighting on President Ruto whom they accused of "childishly" retaliating following his (Ruto's) removal from the outfit.
“And this war is not about Kioni and Kanini Kega. Don’t be lied to,” Jubilee vice chairman David Murathe said.
“There is someone who is more concerned because we chased him from the Jubilee Party and now he wants to show us because now he’s in power, he will retaliate. This is childish,” he said.
On Monday, EALA MP Kanini Kega, who is leading the rival faction, ‘canceled’ Uhuru’s NDC on grounds that it was not properly convened and unlawful.
“Take notice the Jubilee Party National Executive Committee has suspended the notice for a Special National Delegates Conference published in the print media on April 29,” read the notice dated May 10.
Two weeks ago, Kega had announced the removal of Uhuru from the party helm and subsequently replaced him with Sabina.
“The former party leader ceased to hold office as party leader of Jubilee in March 2023. Therefore, any communication from him cannot bind the party and is of no legal consequence,” Kega said.
Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu is yet to give a verdict on the purported removal.
On Thursday, the registrar confirmed receiving documents on Uhuru’s removal.
The registrar is now scrutinising the documents to determine if the removal followed the procedure and process as stipulated in the constitution.
Speaking during the NGC meeting in Nairobi on Thursday, Kioni and Murathe maintained that the NDC will proceed as planned and dared their counterparts to challenge Uhuru’s leadership at the meeting.
“Don’t come to pelt the office with stones. You come to the NDC and say Uhuru Kenyatta is now a child and I want to remove him from the leadership. And we will see where you will go,” Kioni charged.
The former Ndaragua MP asked the rival wing to quit the party and form their own instead of rocking the outfit, even as he backed the removal of five Jubilee senators from House committee.
“If move away from Azimio, you leave all the seats that were given to you through Azimio and then you go eating from your new partners,” he said.
The opposition has sought to kick out all the five Jubilee and one ODM senators who have shifted their allegiance to President William Ruto.
The Jubilee senators removed are Abdul Haji (Garissa), James Lomenen (Turkana), Joseph Kamau (Lamu), Fatuma Dullo (Isiolo) and Margaret Kamar (nominated).
Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda was the only ODM lawmaker who faced the purge.
Murathe said all is set for the NDC and assailed Ruto for destabilising Jubilee.
“The status currently is that we are going ahead with our preparations for the NDC called by the party leader on May 22 at the Bomas of Kenya,” he maintained.
“If the tribunal says go back to resolve your issues, you go to the delegates. If you want run for any position, go to the NDC and say you want that seat and they elect you. But you cannot impose yourself by holding conferences in the streets,” he said.
Former Gender CAS Rachel Shebesh dared Ruto to a war with Uhuru.
“It’s unfortunate that a government that is failing has no other business but to target Uhuru Kenyatta,” Shebesh, who attended the NGC meeting, said.
“And so, I am telling my friend, that is how he (Ruto) calls himself, you are targeting Uhuru Kenyatta, bring it on.”
(Edited by V. Graham)