NAIROBI, Kenya May 4 – The protracted battle within the ruling Jubilee Party over its current structure that was precipitated by recent changes by Secretary-General Raphael Tuju continues to draw anger from a section of members.
Deputy Secretary-General Caleb Kositany, a close ally of Deputy President William Ruto, has accused Tuju of acting on his own volition in exercising powers he does not have.
Tuju in an advertisement placed in the local dailies last week notified members of the public of the formal appointment of five officials whose names appeared in a gazette notice by the Registrar of Parties on April 6.
The individuals were appointed to serve in the party’s National Management Committee (NMC).
They include: Lucy Nyaguthii Macharia, James Waweru, former Kitutu Masaba MP Walter Nyambati, Jane Nampaso and Marete Marangu
“The said notice has not been sanctioned by a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) as per demands of Article 7 of the party constitution,” said Kositany on Monday.
The Soy MP said that no meeting by the National Executive Committee ever took place hence the changes are “null and void”.
“To the best of the knowledge of all bonafide members of the Jubilee Party there has not been any such meeting,” he said.
To counter the changes, that appear to have catalyzed the simmering tension within the party that was founded on unity and democracy, values that ironically are fast fading, Kositany said plans are underway to convene a NEC meeting to chart the way forward.
The meeting, he said, is in compliance with the direction that was issued by the Registrar of Political Parties on 16 April, 2020.
The acting Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu had last month suspended the decision by Tuju to effect the changes within the party after 350 members of the party filed written objections with her office over the manner in which the process was carried out.
Consequently, she advised that the issues raised should be addressed in accordance with the party’s constitution, the Political Parties Act and the conclusion filed with her office.
Kositany urged members to remain calm and wait for the meeting and further directions thereafter.
Deputy President William Ruto who in recent days has found himself isolated from the party’s top leadership had last month protested the changes which he said had not been sanctioned by the party leader President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The president has not commented on the matter, eventhough his close allies like former Jubilee Party Chairman David Murathe and Tuju insist he is aware of the changes.
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