Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe has alleged that the untimely death of former Tanzania's President John Pombe Magufuli, affected the planned ouster of Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto.
Jubilee Party members were reported to be divided over the ejection of Ruto as Deputy Party leader. President Uhuru Kenyatta was supposed to chair a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting to seal Ruto's fate. However, the party members could not agree on whether to proceed with the ouster or postpone it to a later date.
Murathe, on Monday, March 22, said that they shelved the plan to mourn one of Africa's top leaders, with Uhuru among the attendees at Magufuli's state funeral ceremony.
"We have put everything on ice in honour of Magufuli and out of respect for our partnership with Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). Everything is on hold until we finish mourning Magufuli.
"We are also waiting for further instructions on when a NEC meeting should be held because it is for the council to ratify, modify or reject. National Management Committee (NMC) has recommended he goes home," Murathe disclosed.
Magufuli passed away on Thursday night, March 18 and will be buried on Friday, March 26 at his Chato, Tanzania home.
Murathe added that Jubilee's NMC met on Monday, March 22, o deliberate on how to kick out Ruto and other expelled party members allied to the DP.
However, Ruto's ouster as Deputy Party Leader will not automatically see him lose his Deputy President role which is safeguarded by the constitution.
"Ruto has to blame himself for this drama. He already evicted himself from the party (by supporting UDA and wheelbarrownomics).
"After the party supports you as a running mate and you win, the constitution kicks in. It is only through impeachment that he can lose the DP post," Murathe said, insisting that Ruto may also face impeachment.
Reports allege that Uhuru is not keen on ejecting Ruto from both posts, arguing that he was elected by the people and his roles are enshrined in both the country's and Jubilee's constitution.
The party constitution stipulates that the Deputy Party Leader of Jubilee will be the Deputy President when the party is in power. The two roles are thus intertwined.
