Jubilee will keep off Msambweni by-election, says Tuju

The Jubilee party will not field a candidate in the Msambweni Parliamentary by-election slated for December 15, 2020.

Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju says this is due to the current debate on dissolution of Parliament over the two-thirds gender rule and party leader Uhuru Kenyatta's handshake deal with Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga.

This comes days after Chief Justice David Maraga petitioned President Kenyatta to dissolve Parliament over its failure to pass laws to activate the two-thirds gender rule for all elected and appointive positions. 

In his advice to the President, the CJ said that the mechanism for the dissolution of Parliament, irrespective of the consequences, is the radical remedy that Kenyans desired in order to incentivise the political elites to adhere to and fully operationalise the transformational agenda of the Constitution.

"The country has very serious constitutional matters to deal with that will require sobrierty and reaching across the political divide in order to navigate our beloved country across some of these challenges," Mr Tuju said in the statement issued on Wednesday.

The seat fell vacant following the death of legislator Suleiman Dori in  March this year.

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairman Wafula Chebukati said the by-election, which was postponed in April, will be held on December 15.

The electoral body said elections of Ward representatives for Kahawa Wendani, Kisumu North, Dabaso, Wundanyi and LakeView will also be held on the same day.

Mr Tuju, however, said the party's decision on Msambweni does not affect the Ward elections.