Jubilee, Nasa: Did we expect too much in a graveyard?

This week has been quite dramatic with the statement by Kirinyaga governor Anne Waiguru that Jubilee Party is in ICU. MP Ngunjiri Wambugu had also expressed similar statements as earlier stated by Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui, who criticised the current leadership at the helm of the party. This is very interesting coming from the Kieleweke wing of the party.

I had stated this way back in 2019 and 2020, yet this was used against me by the same individuals who are now shouting hoarse about the reality of things, especially after the party has faced defeat in Lakeview, Gaturi, London and Rurii wards. The recent by-elections in Juja and Bonchari also added to the dismal performance of the party.

In July 2018, I declared the official existence of Kieleweke and Tangatanga wings of the Jubilee Party on a breakfast TV show to the disbelief of the nation. My calls for a truce and reaching out went unanswered for a very long time. Now the cracks are as wide for all to see and there is no denial of this very fact anymore.

What has followed since is a serious purge on anyone allied to the Deputy President and deputy party leader, William Ruto, with parliamentary leadership positions being allocated to the opposition and Kanu members instead. The party failed to convene parliamentary group meetings despite incessant calls, thus, not creating a platform for members to ventilate and therefore take party positions.

Interestingly, the party’s constitution is full of promise complete with the necessary suprastructure to galvanise the political arena across ethnic and other lines of balkanisation. For a party that was cobbled up out of 12 other smaller parties, this indeed was a masterstroke of political genius with close to two-thirds of parliamentarians.

However, it appears that the sole aim of some people was to settle internal political scores post the 2017 general election. This was revealed by its real chairman David Murathe in a recent interview. He said his mission was to frustrate and kick out Ruto’s allies, and now that this has been accomplished, he can leave.

For a party that has had interim officials for three years without holding elections, there are now sudden calls to do so ostensibly to bring in ‘new blood of the youth’. Isn’t this what we have called for all along? Raphael Tuju on the one hand is complaining that some people feel ‘entitled’ to the party based on their ethnicity as if they are members by ‘birth’. These are very interesting comments coming from the secretary general. It appears that all pretension of nationalism is slowly grinding to a halt.

On the other hand, the opposition NASA is only visible in the sharing of parliamentary leadership positions, a strategy used by the current officeholders to hold on to their positions, yet the principals of the constituent parties have long gone their separate ways. Some have joined hands with Kanu to form the One Kenya Alliance, aptly named the ‘Cerelac coalition’ by its nemesis.

Kenyans have also witnessed the exchange of choice words between Raila, Mudavadi, Wetangula, Kalonzo and their allies over their non-fulfilment of their coalition agreement, with ANC’s Cleophas Malala being voted out as deputy leader of the minority by ‘NASA senators’.

This is however neither new nor strange, only that many Kenyans expected that this time round, things would be different. There is indeed a genuine desire to have truly national parties that would help the country to bridge the tribal and ethnic divide that has dominated the character and typology of our politics, leading to the fusion of political ideologies and tribal sentiments.

Kenya is essentially a ‘de-facto two-party state’ as former minister Prof Amukowa Anangwe has observed. However, erstwhile political juggernauts have survived at most two elections albeit weaker. This is a result of, among others, lack of internal party democracy and the fact that political parties have ‘owners’ going by a famous quote by the late President Moi in the run-up to the 2002 general election that ‘Kanu ina wenyewe’.

Those who have held contrary views have been subjected to expulsion and public humiliation, starting with Jaramogi Oginga in 1965, Martin Shikuku and Speaker Jean Marie Seroney when they stated that Kanu was dead. The same has been witnessed recently, with yours truly being the biggest casualty of the famous Jubilee Six Senators.

Now Kanu is a pale shadow of its former self. It was destroyed by the famous 1988 Mlolongo elections and the expulsion of Okiki Amayo. Ford original was destroyed by inner tribal and ideological strife, splitting up to Ford Kenya, Asili and People. ODM original broke up into ODM Kenya (Wiper), URP, UDM (ANC), while Narc morphed to Narc Kenya, APK, GNU and PNU.

Certainly, the current political parties are unlikely to be as strong as they were in 2017 going into the 2022 general election. This begs the question, did we expect too much from the graveyard of betrayal that is the history of our political parties?

Your guess is as good as mine.