Interim officials of Jubilee on Wednesday, February 15, stormed the party’s headquarters and took over the premises.
The team was led by The East African Legislative assembly (EALA) Member of Parliament Kanini Kega, Eldas MP Adan Keynan and nominated lawmaker Sabina Chege.
Heavy security cordoned the party offices to prevent clashes between Kega’s team and the now suspended Secretary General (SG) Jeremiah Kioni's team.
While speaking during the takeover, Kanini Kega reiterated the party’s position, maintaining that nothing would stop them from supporting the Kenya Kwanza government.
“From today we will be operating from here because the Office of Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) acknowledged that the restructuring of the party was constitutional.
“We will immediately start the disciplinary process for suspended members Jeremiah Kioni and David Murathe,” the acting SG revealed.
Kega quickly added that the suspended members had nothing to fear as the process would be fair and transparent.
“We will conduct a proper audit of all the activities that happened before, during, and after the elections.
“The party will also look at all the financial transactions to see if they were legally executed,” he revealed.
On her part, Sabina Chege revealed that she was being targeted because of her decision to work with the government.
“There are bloggers who are being paid Ksh2,500 per day to malign my name but I tell them to take care because they do not know where we will meet tomorrow,” she lamented.
“I want to tell those who are maligning my name that I am not afraid of anyone,” she added.
Keynan speaking during the takeover added that there was no room for reconciliation with Azimio.
“We will kickstart the process of leaving the Azimio coalition because this marriage is not working," he revealed.
Sarah Korere who represents Laikipia North constituency while agreeing with Keynan, added that they would not fold up the party.
“We are not folding our party, what we will do is work closely with the government but still keep Jubilee intact,” she clarified.
On Tuesday, February 14, the ORPP confirmed the ouster of Kioni as SG and Murathe as Vice Chairperson.
"This Office acknowledges receipt of your letter dated 10th February 2023 and received on February 13, 2023, on the Jubilee Party (JP) National Executive Council (NEC).
"The Office has taken note of the contents of your submissions and the resolutions. It is also noted that the meeting was properly convened as per the party constitution," ORPP stated then.
Azimio leader Raila Odinga condemned the Jubilee party takeover arguing that President William Ruto was hell-bent to coerce Members of Parliament to support him.
“This is basically the intention of taking this country back to a single-party dictatorship. They want to undermine the opposition, kill the opposition so that they create one monolith,” the ODM chief stated while addressing the media at the home of former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi on Wednesday, February 15 after police raid .
