Jubilee Party’s leadership transition has opened a fresh contest for control of the former ruling party, with the elevation of Fred Matiang’i failing to settle questions over who should ultimately lead the outfit into the 2027 General Election.
The battle is now shifting to the National Delegates Convention (NDC), where former Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu says delegates should have the final say on whether Dr Matiang’i retains the party leadership or Deputy Party Leader Jeremiah Kioni takes over.
Mr Kioni kept his cards close to his chest on Wednesday, declining to discuss whether he intends to challenge Dr Matiang’i at the convention.
“We need to do an interview,” Mr Kioni told the Nation when asked about his absence from Tuesday’s Jubilee National Executive Council (NEC) meeting and whether he would face Dr Matiang’i at the NDC.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) interacts with former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i during the handover of leadership of the Jubilee Party at the party’s headquarters in Nairobi.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation
His silence came a day after former President Uhuru Kenyatta handed the party leadership to Dr Matiang’i, pending ratification by the NDC.
Only Dr Matiang’i and Deputy Party Leader in charge of strategy Beatrice Gambo attended Tuesday’s event from the two camps of deputy party leaders, according to party officials familiar with the meeting.
Mr Kioni, who has previously insisted that Jubilee’s next leader must be elected by delegates rather than installed through an informal arrangement, was conspicuously absent.
His camp is now expected to intensify mobilisation of delegates ahead of the NDC, tentatively scheduled for the end of October.
The development has created an unusual political equation in which Dr Matiang’i is simultaneously Jubilee’s presidential candidate and interim party leader, while Mr Kioni remains a deputy party leader with a constituency of his own within the organisation.
“Matiang’i was not my preferred Party Leader as much as he’s my preferred Presidential Candidate. I preferred Kioni. But I can live with this decision until the NDC that Uhuru has confirmed will be held soon then we see what delegates say,” Mr Wambugu said.
His position separates two offices that have increasingly become intertwined in Jubilee: the party leadership and the presidential nomination.
Jubilee endorsed Dr Matiang’i as its presidential candidate in October last year, with Mr Kioni then serving as Secretary-General and announcing the decision after a NEC meeting chaired by Mr Kenyatta. Dr Matiang’i was also appointed Deputy Party Leader.
The arrangement appeared to place Dr Matiang’i at the centre of Jubilee’s political revival. But Mr Kioni’s subsequent bid for the party leadership introduced a second centre of authority.
The former Secretary-General has argued that the party leader should emerge from the NDC rather than through a handover between senior officials.
The latest developments therefore leave Jubilee facing a potentially difficult question: should its presidential candidate automatically become party leader, or should delegates separately determine who occupies the party’s top office?
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta (center) after relinquishing his leadership of the Jubilee Party during a handover ceremony at the party headquarters in Nairobi on September 22, 2026, pending approval by the party’s National Delegates Convention.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
Mr Wambugu, who has been involved in several of Jubilee’s recent internal disputes, has emerged as one of the clearest voices challenging the assumption that Dr Matiang’i should automatically inherit Mr Kenyatta’s position.
In his open letter to Dr Matiang’i on Tuesday, Mr Wambugu congratulated him on being entrusted with the party leadership but stressed that the arrangement remained subject to the NDC.
He urged the new party leadership to provide members and aspirants with a clear timetable for the convention and the processes leading to it, signalling a potentially bruising battle for control of the party.
“The NDC provides an opportunity to resolve outstanding leadership questions, regularise Party structures where necessary, renew the mandate of our national leadership and allow members, through their delegates, to determine the direction of their Party,” he said.
He also warned against informal arrangements, saying decisions affecting members and aspirants should be made through established party organs and procedures.
The position is consistent with Mr Kioni’s earlier argument that Jubilee is a national party whose leaders should be elected by delegates.
This makes the NDC the next major arena for the Jubilee contest, coming at a time when the party is trying to regularise its structures following months of internal disputes and legal challenges.
Dr Matiang’i’s first major organisational test is likely to be the unresolved dispute over the position of Secretary-General.
The Political Parties Disputes Tribunal recently nullified the appointment and recognition of Moitalel Ole Kenta as Jubilee Secretary-General, finding that he did not meet the party’s membership requirement when he was nominated and appointed. The tribunal directed the party to undertake a fresh process if it wished to fill the position.
Jubilee has opposed that finding and said it intends to pursue the legal avenues available to it. The party has maintained that its records showed Mr Kenta became a registered member on December 24, 2025, and argued that the tribunal did not fully consider the evidence before it.
Former Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu during a past function.
Photo credit: Joseph Kanyi | Nation Media Group
Mr Wambugu, whose challenge contributed to the tribunal proceedings, has instead urged Jubilee to fix the process rather than prolong the dispute.
“The issue before us is not Kenta as an individual. It is the process through which the office of the Secretary-General is filled,” he said.
He argued that Jubilee could conduct a fresh, transparent and constitutionally compliant process, including considering Mr Kenta again if he met all the applicable requirements.
For Dr Matiang’i, the dispute provides an early test of whether he can restore confidence in Jubilee’s internal institutions while preparing the party for the NDC and the 2027 election.
On Tuesday, Mr Kenyatta and Dr Matiang’i emphasised the need for unity in the party, cautioning against “persistent litigations”.
“Sideshows will not make us win,” said Mr Kenyatta.
Dr Matiang’i struck a similar conciliatory tone, urging rival factions to use party structures rather than courts to resolve disputes.
“So, to our brothers, let’s not go to court, we have structures to sort our problems out,” he said.
The party retains a national political structure, a recognisable brand and access to public funding. For the 2026/27 financial year, Jubilee has been allocated Sh128.86 million from the Political Parties Fund, according to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties.
The party’s allocation has declined significantly from the years when it was one of the dominant forces in Parliament and county governments.
Jubilee received more than Sh2.7 billion from the Political Parties Fund between 2017/18 and 2021/22, according to figures cited in a recent Nation analysis.
But control of the party is about more than money. It determines who controls the party’s organisational machinery, membership structures and nomination processes, as well as its position in coalition negotiations ahead of the 2027 election.
That is why the contest between Dr Matiang’i and Mr Kioni could become more consequential as the NDC approaches.
Mr Kenyatta’s decision to relinquish the formal party leadership has not removed him from Jubilee politics.
On Tuesday, he said he would remain a member and serve in a senior advisory capacity. He also asked Jubilee members to accept Dr Matiang’i as the person taking over while the party waits for the NDC.
Mr Kenyatta’s continued presence means the transition is unlikely to be viewed simply as a change of office holders. He remains a key figure in Jubilee’s history and political networks even as formal leadership moves to Dr Matiang’i.
Mr Wambugu’s intervention also suggests that Mr Kenyatta’s preferred transition may not automatically translate into an uncontested succession at the NDC.
In his open letter, Mr Wambugu said he supports Dr Matiang’i’s presidential candidature but would continue to defend Jubilee’s constitution and internal democratic processes where he believes they require it.
“This should not be mistaken for opposition to your leadership or to Jubilee. It arises precisely from my commitment to our Party,” he said.
