The fate of retired President Uhuru Kenyatta as Jubilee leader could be sealed in two days as Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu moves to effect his ouster by a rival faction led by nominated MP Sabina Chege and East African Legislative Assembly member Kanini Kega.
Ms Nderitu has given Mr Kenyatta until Monday to respond to the resolutions of a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting that replaced him with Ms Chege in an acting capacity.
In an escalation of the fight for the soul of the party, the Kega faction yesterday issued a summons to Mr Kenyatta to appear before a disciplinary committee over alleged gross misconduct.
They gave Mr Kenyatta two days to respond to some of the accusations levelled against him before he can be dragged to make a physical appearance before the team.
“Take notice that a dispute has been filed against you and received by the Internal Dispute Resolution Committee. You are hereby required to file your response, together with any supporting documentation, with the committee within two days of this notification,” they said in a letter to the former head of state.
“You shall be notified of a hearing date when you shall be accorded an opportunity to be heard before the committee makes its final determination on the matter.”
Separately, Ms Nderitu, in another letter obtained by Saturday Nation
The Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) is set to make a decision on whether Mr Kenyatta was lawfully kicked out of the party he founded in the run-up to his re-election in 2017.
The office is also expected to decide on whether he should be disciplined by the party for alleged gross misconduct of convening a parallel NEC meeting when “he had no such powers.”
Ms Nderitu is also set to decide the fate of the National Delegates Conference (NDC) scheduled for May 22 by Mr Kenyatta but which the Kega team has disputed.
“The office is in the process of evaluating the documents and the substance of the resolutions therein against the Political Parties Act, 2021, and the Jubilee Party constitution,” Ms Nderitu said in the letter dated May 8.
“In light of the above, the documents pertaining to the meeting are hereby forwarded for your information, response and other action. You are expected to submit your response within seven days of the date herein to allow this office to complete the evaluation and address the substance of the matter.”
The content of the letter yesterday angered Mr Kenyatta’s camp, with his close ally and Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe accusing the registrar of helping their opponents to take over the party. Mr Murathe declared that Mr Kenyatta would not respond to the “nonsensical letter”, adding that the ORPP could as well proceed to assist the Kega team to achieve their goal.
He maintained that the planned NDC would go on and dared the rival camp to attend to make leadership changes through the right process.
“Why are they afraid of coming for the delegates meeting? The final arbiter in this matter is the delegates. If they are man enough, including that registrar of parties, let them stop the NDC,” charged Mr Murathe.
Mr Kega, in an earlier letter, told the ORPP that Mr Kenyatta stood suspended for gross misconduct, adding that there were plans to drag him before the Jubilee disciplinary committee for flouting the party’s constitution. The camp has declared its support for President William Ruto.
Mr Murathe yesterday said the camp has no authority to summon Mr Kenyatta to appear before its disciplinary committee.
“I can tell you that Uhuru or I will not appear before that committee that has no locus standi. This fight over Jubilee we will have to sort once and for all when we convene for the NDC next week,” he said.
Mr Kega on Wednesday suspended a Special National Delegates Convention called by Mr Kenyatta, but Murathe said only a court order can stop the meeting.
Both camps yesterday admitted that the fights have since paralysed the operations of the outfit as the officials cannot make bank transactions over the leader dispute. For the party to transact, it requires the signatures of the party Chairman, Secretary- General and Executive Director.
Deputy Secretary General Joshua Kutuny – who is in Mr Kega’s camp – yesterday claimed that Mr Kenyatta’s faction wrote to the bank, seeking to change signatures. He claimed Mr Kenyatta’s name was one of the names submitted as signatories of the party’s accounts.
Mr Kenyatta had reportedly fired Jubilee Chairman Nelson Dzuya and Executive Director Wambui Gichuru using undated letters of resignation they had allegedly signed when they were appointed during a NEC meeting that he convened.
“The minutes filed with the ORPP have Uhuru’s name as one of the signatories. This is illegal and against the party constitution. We have had a scenario where a party leader has become a signatory to party accounts,” said Mr Kuttuny.
Mr Murathe did not confirm or deny whether Mr Kenyatta’s name was submitted only stating that “what we know is that the former Executive Director was a signatory and NEC removed her.”
“This fight is more than Kega and (Jeremiah) Kioni. The agenda is to paralyse our operations. Right now, both Kega and Kioni camps cannot make any transactions. The bank needs three signatories which both sides cannot raise,” he said.
According to the audited accounts for the financial year ending June 2020, Jubilee Party is the second richest party after ODM in the country and is valued at Sh429.44 million. The Jubilee Party currently qualifies for Sh135 million annually.
