The Jubilee party has unveiled its new logo, dropping off elements and colours associated with the United Republican Party (URP).
The new logo spots only red and white colours, with the symbolic handshake on the previous crest, also dropped for a flying dove with an olive branch in its beak.
Also tweaked is the party’s slogan, which now reads Mbele Pamoja (Forward Together), a slight twist from the previous Tuko Pamoja (We Are Together).
The changes came into effect after President Uhuru Kenyatta fell out with his deputy, William Ruto.
URP was folded in 2016 in a merger with The National Alliance (TNA) to form Jubilee in the run-up to the 2017 general election. Jubilee presented its new logo to the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) for consideration.
Jubilee Party Deputy Secretary-General Joshua Kuttuny, who in July 2021, hinted at a re-brand, asserted that this was a new beginning for the party.
“You will see a new Jubilee, a new face because we are starting afresh. You know, it represents a new beginning because remember some of our friends had to leave. So the party has to remain for the owners,” the Cherangany MP stated.
“Some of the colours we are going to discard are old colours that represent the characters we don’t want to be associated with. And besides, anyway, you will see that they have run away with some of the colours. So, clearly, we are starting afresh with another slogan, colours, and the rest. We will retain a few, but you will see something completely different,” he added.
Plans to rebrand Jubilee started in May 2021 after the party lost the Juja by-election to Ruto linked United Democratic Alliance (UDA). President Uhuru Kenyatta reprimanded top party leaders, David Murathe (Vice-Chairman) and Raphael Tuju (Secretary-General) at State House, arguing that the two had lost touch with the grassroots.
Some party members turned against the duo and pushed for their ouster, but eventually failed. However, politicians allied to Uhuru agitated for change, which included amending its slogan and forming a pact with like-minded parties such as the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Other politicians, nonetheless, ditched Jubilee for Ruto's UDA. Among these were Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura, Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and Laikipia Woman Representative, Cate Waruguru.
UDA spots the yellow, green, and black colours, with a wheelbarrow as its crest.
The DP embarked on a nationwide tour to popularise his party, which he argued was the new home to all Jubilee politicians purged by Uhuru. He also coined the slogan Kazi ni Kazi to complement his bottom-up economic model.
"Bottom-up is focused on deliberately creating jobs, liberating enterprises from shylock-credit exploitation and unfair regulation and empowering our resource-poor farmers to produce and free them from the slavery/indignity of relief food aid,” Ruto stated at a past rally.
Uhuru and his handshake partner, ODM leader Raila Odinga, have constantly spoken against Ruto's economic model and his campaign strategies. The two also called out UDA for hosting politicians accused of graft. Ruto countered, arguing that those associated with him were targetted by the state to frustrate his ambitions.
During the Jamhuri Day celebrations, on December 12, he urged Uhuru to allow independent bodies such as the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to conduct their businesses without interference.
