Nominated Member of Parliament Sabina Chege on Tuesday, May 2, was appointed Jubilee Party's acting leader to replace former President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Speaking outside Jubilee party offices, East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Kanini Kega, allied to President William Ruto, affirmed the appointment in his capacity as Secretary-General.
However, his position as secretary general is in a contest, as he has been fighting for the role with Jeremiah Kioni, allied to Uhuru. Both Kioni and Kega refer to themselves as Jubilee secretary generals.
The appointment was part of the resolutions made during a meeting with the party officials. He added that a National Delegates Conference (NDC) convened by Uhuru was unconstitutional.
"We have 28 members, and today we held a meeting comprising 22 members with 3 apologies; hence our side is the majority. Hence, we resolved that the upcoming meeting constituted by Uhuru goes against our party's Constitution.
"According to the Constitution, a retired president should not be involved in politics six months after leaving office. From the time he left office, his time lapsed in March 2023.
Kega confirmed that he still served as the Secretary-General, according to the resolutions made in the meeting.
"Uhuru ceased from being the Jubilee party leader; hence he cannot run any party affairs. The statement he delegated concerning the meeting convention is null and void based on the Constitution. According to the party constitution, as the Secretary-General, I ought to be the one convening such a meeting.
"The NEC Committee resolved that Sabina will serve as the acting party leader until the time we convene a National Delegates Convention (NDC) where we will select the leader who will run the party moving forward," he pointed out.
Kega questioned why Uhuru would invite Jubilee party officials, whom he claimed were suspended pending internal dispute resolutions.
"The purported NEC meeting was not issued by the Secretary-General as required by the party constitution. It did not have a quorum as it had seven members as provided under Article 23 of the party constitution, three of whom are suspended pending the internal dispute resolution process. The three are Kioni, Murathe (party vice-chair) and Kagwe Gichohi (National Treasurer)," he stated.
The legislator also dispelled reports of resignations from party officials presented to the Registrar of Political Parties - arguing that they were fake.
Part of the resolutions involved suspending the notice Uhuru issued about an upcoming NDC meeting on May 22, 2023.
Kega accused Uhuru of misconduct and referred his case to the national disciplinary committee for further action.
He added that the party would issue a notice convening an NDC pursuant to resolutions of NEC dated February 10, 2023.
The former president had convened a meeting to review, formulate and approve Jubilee party policies and also receive a status report from the National Executive Committee.
