MURATHE NA TUJU WATEMWA NJE

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday, August 27, held a meeting with Jubilee Members of Parliament (MPs) in a bid to hold talks regarding the rejuvenation of the party.

Discussions that prevailed at the State House meeting revolved around party politics and how the party would revamp itself as the country heads towards the 2022 General Election.

A section of the MPs, who attended the meeting, noted that Uhuru instructed them to begin revamping the party at the grassroots level within their constituencies. 

Jubilee Secretary-general Raphael Tuju addressing the media on the Wajir West By-election on April 10, 2019.FACEBOOK

A source who intimated to the media affirmed that the legislators would be meeting with the Head of State in the next two weeks to give a report on how far they have reached in terms of revamping the party.”The places where people want to feel the party is from location, ward and branch level. This is the core business of all leaders. MPs have to go to their constituencies and build the party and make it strong down there. This is something we agreed on when we met the President,” the source told the Nation.

Further, the leaders asked for Uhuru to intervene within the party politics in regards to its flag bearer in the upcoming elections. The lawmakers added that Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga would be a hard sell in the Mt Kenya region.

The lawmakers also noted that they needed a capable flagbearer who would counter Deputy President William Ruto’s influence within the region.

The President is said to have undertaken the mandate to tour the Central region in a bid to give the direction and sell the party’s agenda.

“Our agenda is one; bringing the country together as the President has always said. In the next two weeks, we will be meeting him so that we start strategising on next year’s elections,” the source added.

Further, calls for the resignation of the Jubilee party’s top brass, the party’s Secretary-General Raphael Tuju, and its Vice-Chairman David Murathe, were also shelved since both are appointees of the President. 

“Yes, there are people who have been pushing for the removal of Tuju and Murathe but I do not think they are the main problem in the party. A party without a presidential candidate always has a problem,” the source stated.

They also agreed that only the Head of State ought to remove the two as both are appointees of the President.

Both Tuju and Murathe were conspicuously absent from the meeting. 

Upon inquiry, Murathe noted that the meeting was based on the lawmakers discussing their future within the party. He added that the Jubilee Secretariat did not have a problem with the proposed rejuvenation of the party.

“This is about their (MPs) careers. If they want to strengthen the party they should be more involved. We have no problem. In any case, we have started engaging with the parliamentary leadership. We will also be engaging the actual members but they need to participate from wherever they are in re-energising the party,” Murathe stated.

The ruling party has been experiencing troubles due to the recent by-elections failures that have seen various leaders within Jubilee call for the party to restrategise before the 2022 General Election.

By Kenyans