Murathe, Tuju Coin Explanation for Juja Loss

Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe in an interview with K24 in 2019
Jubilee Vice Chairman David Murathe in an interview with K24 in 2019
File

Jubilee Vice-Chairman David Murathe and Secretary-General Raphael Tuju coined an explanation for the Juja and Rurii by-election losses despite conceding defeat to United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and the People's Empowerment Party (PEP). 

Tuju, while speaking on Citizen TV on Thursday, May 20, stated that the elections witnessed a low voter turnout as compared to a General Election. 

"Those who have won in the by-elections, a few wards where turnout was very low and the dynamics are completely different with a general election, they have every right to celebrate but we will be back.

"We have performed very well in past by-elections but this particular time we were not that lucky, we didn’t perform well & we should not have useless excuses," Tuju pointed out while defending Jubilee from allegations that they had fallen out of favour with the President. 

h
President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives at Lamu Port to preside over the operationalization of the first berth of the 32-berth seaport on Thursday, May 21, 2021
PSCU

Murathe added that the voter turnout stood at around 18%. The Vice-Chair couldn't comprehend why Deputy President William Ruto's allies were over the moon with their victories. 

In Juja, PEP's George Koimburi got 12,159 votes followed by Jubilee's Susan Waititu with 5,746 votes. The total number of votes cast was 21,862 with 150 rejected votes. Juja has 184 polling stations and about 115,000 registered voters. 

"Who says that every time you run an election you have to win it?  You go to an election to win or to lose? If Ruto's allies believe that they are strong enough, let them move out of the Jubilee Party so that we conduct little general elections in their constituencies," Murathe, who appeared on KTN News dared. 

He added that Uhuru was focused on completing his agenda and would not be distracted by the loss. Murathe cautioned Ruto's allies that they would be kicked out of the party. 

While conceding defeat, Tuju stated that "I take responsibility for not performing as well as we have performed in the past." 

Rigathi Gachagua, Mathira MP, however, argued that the will of the people prevailed and that the outcome was a good pointer of the 2022 elections. 

Murathe and Tuju were reportedly among those scorned by Uhuru for the losses. The President was aggrieved by the manner in which the elections were conducted, from voter fraud to police brutality. 

Francis Atwoli, Central Organisation of Trade Unions, however, urged Jubilee to desist from blame games and focus on strategising. 

"You can advise and it will be followed or not, so you cannot blame the advisors. There are advisors and those who implement them. But it is too early for the opponents of Uhuru to start celebrating. They will be deceiving themselves," Atwoli cautioned. 

g
Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju addresses the media in 2019.
File