Jubilee Party has banned Deputy President William Ruto from using the Party headquarters and his choice to back an independent candidate in the Msambweni by-election is among the many reasons cited by the party.
Speaking at a press conference at the Party Headquarters in Nairobi, Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju said the party has also recommended for DP Ruto to cease being Jubilee Deputy Party leader after he opened Jubilee Asili offices.
This comes just a day after DP Ruto held a meeting with 38 Members of Parliament allied to him, with the President being out of the country, a move Jubilee Management Committee has termed as an attempted power grab.
The Party accused Ruto of exhibiting arrogance, insolence and disrespect to President Uhuru Kenyatta who is also Jubilee Party Leader.
Below is an excerpt from the statement by Jubilee Party on some of the events that led to the ban:
We have witnessed the unprovoked and inexplicable abuse of Former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta by political allies of the Deputy Party Leader and the subsequent response by Hon. Ruto that exhibited not an ounce of contrition. Some of the abuses have been expressed in the most primitive and vulgar vernacular.
Last week the party had made a decision not to field a candidate for the Msambweni by-election. Shortly after that announcement, the Deputy Party leader came into the Party headquarters with an aspirant on tow. He went ahead to express his dissenting view on this matter but committed to respect the party position. It was a surprise to see the Deputy Party Leader emerge the following day unveiling and declaring his support for an independent candidate in contravention of the party position.
Kenyans were amazed by the obvious absence of the DP at the KICC during the COVID-19 conference with his seat remaining conspicuously empty throughout the event where he was included in the program to make remarks and according to State protocol, then invite the President to address the conference. For such travesty, the only thing we have received from the Deputy President’s camp are tweets from his allies rubbing salt to injury.
In many days, weeks and months we have seen the Deputy President run around the country in his so called hustler political rallies in churches, markets and roadsides. Up to now, the vast majority of those who serve this party, and this President have heeded the call of the President that we should not put the country in a campaign mode so early so that the country may concentrate the very important human development agenda of this administration. This restraint is in respect for the President and not because of lack of leaders with ambition and capacity to hit the road and start campaigning. We have witnessed with sadness the very rude and unmitigated defiance in the free of this fervent wish and vision of our President by his constitutional principle assistant, the Deputy President William Ruto.
Yesterday the Deputy President turned up at the party headquarters with more than 30 MPs many of them known avowed abusers of the President. These are the same foul-mouthed MPs that are on record attacking government programs like Huduma Number. It is disturbing that the Deputy President invites this same retinue to the party headquarters to give a platform to increase polarization in the party. Indeed, that move of inviting MPs allied to him almost created an ugly confrontation with close to 40 MPs not allied to him who also wanted to storm the headquarters…
The above events have prompted the Party not only to ban the Deputy President from using the party headquarters but also its platforms.
“It is noteworthy that the Party Constitution has not given Deputy President any specific role of organizing Party grassroot collaboration with his select MPs and Senators as emerged from the press conference yesterday addressed by senators and MPS allied to him,” read the statement.
