Deputy President William Ruto and his allies have hatched a new strategy to put the Jubilee Party on its toes after suffering a set back in registering their breakaway outfit dubbed Jubilee Asili.
DP allies now want political parties dissolved and abolished and leaders to run on independent tickets. They are also pushing Jubilee to publish its financial statements arguing that the party was being mismanaged.
"Political parties have eroded our democracy and should be abolished and we allow Kenyans to vote for individuals. We want details of the bank statements," Jubilee Deputy Secretary-General and Soy MP Caleb Kositany stated in an interview with Daily Nation.
Their sentiments are based on the Miscellaneous Amendment Bill 2020 which seeks to reduce public funding of political parties. Ruto's allies have expressed support for the bill, with Wiper, Amani National Congress, Ford Kenya, ODM and Jubilee allies aligned with President Uhuru Kenyatta opposing it.
"Any payments that have been made to who and for what should be tabled so that Kenyans can make an informed decision on how their funds are utilised," he added.
Ruto and allies were barred from registering the outfit after the Registrar of Political parties rejected the name for failing to comply with section 8 of the Political Parties Act, 2011.
The Act determines that the registrar may decline an application if a party bears a similar name, abbreviation and symbol of another outfit.
Belgut MP Nelson Koech raised concerns over the amount of money they contribute to managing Jubilee, arguing that they part with Ksh 10,000 per month. This totals to Ksh 600,000 in five years. The MP lamented that efforts to push for accountability were futile.
On July 6, Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju warned a section of Jubilee MPs that they risked losing their seats for defaulting their monthly Ksh 20,000 subscriptions. The party targetted East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MPs who had reportedly not contributed over Ksh 1 million in the past years.
This followed a previous warning to all Jubilee MPs, issued by Vice-Chairman David Murathe. Murathe cautioned Ruto's allies against stopping monthly contributions which are meant for running activities at the Jubilee's headquarters along Thika Road Nairobi.
"If they want to move to something else they are good to go. Good riddance. These are people who had promised to work from the Jubilee headquarters but now claim they have been denied," Murathe slammed.
