Deputy President William Ruto could be kicked out of the ruling Jubilee Party on November 30 during the National Delegates Convention (NDC), the Nation has established.
In a notice issued by the secretary-general, Mr Raphael Tuju, the meeting of the party’s top organ will take place at Kasarani, where one of the goals is to create more deputy party leaders.
“Take notice that pursuant to Article 7.1:1 and 7.1:2 of the Jubilee Party Constitution, a meeting of the National Delegates Convention, shall be convened at 10am on November 30 at Kasarani,” states the notice.
Jubilee deputy secretary-general, Mr Joshua Kutuny, said the NDC will adopt the National Management Committee’s proposal for more than one deputy party leader.
The Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu has already reserved Azimio la Umoja as the name of the Jubilee-ODM coalition following a request by Suna East MP Junet Mohamed.
“We will approve the party constitution that seeks to create more deputy party leaders’ positions and create a 2022 political road map,” said Mr Kutuny, who is also the Cherang’any MP.
The party is likely to amend, review and ratify the constitution to ensure compliance with the Constitution of Kenya, the Political Parties Act and Elections Act, among other laws.
Apart from dealing with the DP and his allies, who have switched allegiance to the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), the convention is also expected to ratify a coalition deal with ODM.
On Sunday, Mr Odinga said plans were in top gear to formalise the coalition deal with Jubilee led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
He said it will be a mass movement that will deliver the presidency alongside other elective seats to their camp.
“We are uniting ODM and Jubilee in a deal that will guarantee us several seats right from MCA, MP, Senator, Woman Rep, to the governor and the President,” Mr Odinga said.
President Kenyatta’s allies yesterday said even though it is clear the meeting could formalise ‘divorce proceedings’, the DP would be at liberty to make his own decision on when or whether he should leave.
“We are going to stick to the agenda. However, on the matter of removing the party rebels, we shall leave it to the party leader to decide,” Murang’a Woman Rep Sabina Chege told the Nation.
A week ago, the DP dared Jubilee to remove him from the party, which he termed as a “dying” outfit. He said his decision to move to UDA was informed by the divisions that rocked Jubilee.
“The plans of those we are competing with are to divide Kenya along tribal lines and we are telling them that the way they broke up Jubilee, we are not threatened since we are already organised under UDA,” Dr Ruto said.
Eldas MP Adan Keynan, who is also the Secretary of the Jubilee Coalition Joint Parliamentary Group, told the Sunday Nation that the focus is on how to make the party likeable by its supporters.
He also said the decisions will be made within the various structures of the party in anticipation of forming a coalition with other like-minded parties.
“Jubilee as a party is being restructured, rebranded and reloaded so that we have a party that addresses the wishes, expectations of the people. Whatever we do, will be people-centered, people-blessed and people-oriented,” said Mr Keynan.
“Once all these are concluded, we are going to form a coalition with our handshake partners and other like-minded parties. All these decisions will be made within different structures of the party at the right time,” he added.
Kiambu MP Jude Njomo said they have been meeting to reorganise themselves in preparations for the polls. He said they have also embarked on restructuring the party from the grassroots level upwards.
“Time has come when party leadership has to change to be that which will be in touch with the supporters on the ground so that everyone feels that they are represented. We have started organising party structures from the ward to the national level,” he said.
National Assembly Majority Leader Amos Kimunya added: “The end game is that we want to have a party with strong structures and firm foundation from the grassroots. That is why we are weeding out moles and those that have jumped ship to join other parties.”
“We are within time but we have accelerated activities and that is why we are meeting weekly, on Thursdays, to take stock of our progress.”
Apart from using the collapse of the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) to campaign against the DP, who seemed to be enjoying the support of many lawmakers from the region, the Kieleweke MPs have hit the ground to portray Dr Ruto as “an enemy”.
Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu, a firebrand critic of the DP, said yesterday that since Kiambaa mini-poll, they have been having regular meetings aimed at rejuvenating the ruling party.
“These meetings started after Kiambaa when we made a decision to revamp our party. Our meetings have included the one we had with the President some time back,” he said.
The DP and his allies say President Kenyatta abandoned those who elected him to focus on constitutional review, derailing the Big Four Agenda.
Mr Wambugu said they have been touring various regions with Cabinet Secretaries to promote President Kenyatta’s achievements since 2013.
“We meet to plan how to focus public attention on Jubilee achievements, which we have been doing through development tours with members of the Executive,” he said.
“We also meet to look at how our party restructuring at grassroots is going, which is currently happening through targeted Mashinani Town halls across the region.”
In what looks like a strategy to lock Dr Ruto out of the vote-rich Mount Kenya, Mr Wambugu said they also use the platform to deliberate on what the region has achieved from the ‘handshake’ and what they expect from the next one in regard to what BBI was to give them.
“We also meet to look at what role we are playing in Parliament to help our region consolidate the gains we have achieved under this government, even as we chart a way forward into the next government,” he said.
“This has seen us define the interests of the region into resource allocation, equal representation, continuity, and security (Which is what was in BBI).”
