Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni has defended the party’s decision to back former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i for the 2027 presidency.
Speaking on Monday evening during an interview on TV47, Kioni revealed Matiang’i was the only politician who approached the party and expressed interest in vying for the presidency on the Jubilee ticket.
According to him, Matiang’i being the only Jubilee party member with an interest in the top government position, the party decided to hand him automatic approval.
Kioni also disclosed that CS would soon come out and formally announce the decision to vie for the presidency and further address critical questions surrounding his move.
“Matiang’i is the one who reached out and he will be talking about it in the coming days we are not going to wait for too long, when he thinks he is ready he will do it,” Kionoi revealed.
“Anybody can express a desire to run for president, Matiang'i just expressed his desire. One of the things he has told me is that it cannot be politics forever,” he added.
Despite Matiang’i’s candidacy, Kioni assured Kenyans that the opportunity to vie for the presidency on the Jubilee party ticket was still available and that any individual with a similar ambition to reach out to the party leadership.
“If you want to be, we have 7 million people and anybody who wants to express desire, it is still open, whoever it will be it is the work of the party to market the candidate,” the Jubilee party Secretary-General noted.
“If we get other individuals who are interested in running then we will also take them, I have been trying to convince others too asking them why they are not taking up the role,” he added.
During the interview, the Jubilee Secretary General also took a swipe at National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, accusing him of allegedly disrespecting court orders.
Kioni criticised Wetang’ula for contravening the courts by failing to decide on whether to step down from his current position or quit as Ford Kenya party leader.
"Speaker Wetang'ula will go down in history as a speaker with no respect for court orders. A time will come when these things will follow you as an individual and you cannot hide behind an office," Kioni claimed.
