BAD NEWS TO RAILA ODINGA AS PRESIDENT UHURU SUDDENLY CALLS OFF NDC MEETING

President Uhuru Kenyatta has suddenly called off the November 30 Jubilee National Delegates Convention, handing his deputy William Ruto a lifeline in the party — at least for now. 

The move also cast a pall of uncertainty over the high-stakes plans by Jubilee to endorse a political marriage with ODM boss Raila Odinga. 

Critically, the Jubilee revamp plans to steady the outfit, including overhauling the national secretariat and strengthening party bastions, are now in limbo.

Growing disquiet has emerged among the President’s allies who are grumbling that the reorganisation delays would prove politically costly for them. 

Uhuru was expected to make clear his succession game plan that would give a big boost to MPs who have stuck with him.

He was also expected to kick out Deputy President Ruto; the Dynamic Duo has venomously fallen out. Endless articles have said the marriage is irretrievably broken. 

“Something is not adding up. Postponing the NDC that has been planned for a whole month at such a critical moment is not well thought out,” a Kieleweke MP who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Star.  

The President is planning to deliver his annual State of the Nation Address to Parliament on the same day the Jubilee NDC was planned to take place. 

While some of the President’s allies insist the parliamentary address caused the postponement, there are hard questions as to the coincidence of the two important events. 

For instance, it is not clear why the President’s planners had to wait to the tail end of the current session of Parliament, which started in February, to organise for the address. 

Some critics of the ‘postponement’  are reading mischief, claiming it is a continuation of the President’s indecisiveness about kicking out Ruto and his troops firmly grabbing the reins of the ruling outfit. 

Something is not adding up. Postponing NDC that has been planned for a whole month at such a critical moment.

Kieleweke MP

On Monday, Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu, a key Uhuru ally, lifted the lid on the intrigues that would have resulted in the postponement.

The lawmaker said the cancellation was aimed at averting a deadly political standoff in Parliament between the pro-Uhuru forces and allies of Ruto. 

“This (postponement) will ensure that whatever decisions are taken at the NDC don’t affect the smooth running of Bunge during these last days as there are crucial matters being dealt with in this session,” Ngunjiri told the Star.

HOUSE CLEANING THWARTED

The President was expected to use the NDC summit to kick out Ruto from his deputy party leader post and instal his confidants and party loyalists at the helm of the party.

He went on, “It was decided that trying to do both the State of the Nation and the NDC on the same day would end up mixing state and political matters when it could be avoided.” 

A group of MPs allied to the President have called for radical surgery at Jubilee as part of the revamp strategy to position the party as a formidable and viable force ahead of next year’s polls. 

Ndaragwa MP Jeremiah Kioni, an Uhuru ally, admitted there is a lot of anxiety over the postponement among aspirants seeking the Jubilee ticket.

“The postponement of the meeting, of course, increases that anxiety. Those who want to run through the Jubilee Party also become anxious about how they go about their campaigns,” he said.

The President was expected to use the NDC summit to kick out Ruto from his deputy party leader post and instal his confidants and party loyalists at the helm of the party. 

A recently leaked party officials lineup revealed the President’s elaborate plans to take firm control of the outfit, including replacing secretary general Raphael Tuju with former Nyeri Woman Representative Pricilla Nyokabi.

The undated document had revealed that Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui, Eldas MP Adan Keynan and Samburu Woman Representative Maison Leshomo, were tipped to replace Ruto. 

The Jubilee Party, in a statement, denounced the leaked list as fake. 

By The Star Kenya