Embattled Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni has revealed a grand plan that will thwart Nominated Member of Parliament Sabina Chege's long-term plans to retain a stranglehold on the political outfit.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Monday, July 17, Kioni noted that Chege and her East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) MP Kanini Kega will eventually fail even if they manage to forcefully grab the party from Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta's hands.
In the grand scheme of things, Kioni and Uhuru aim to regain control of the Central Kenya voting block strategically, with the intention of diminishing the popularity of the new leadership within the Jubilee Party and winning the support and favour of the region's residents.
"Even if they manage to take the party, we have put in place plans to ensure that the supporters, especially, from the Mount Kenya region do not move with them," he said.
"We have the options, including moving to another political party. As a matter of fact, the people will move on to other parties and we will create a new system," Kioni stated.
While acknowledging the political interests in the party, Kioni noted that plans were underway to ensure that current Jubilee supporters shift their allegiance to another outfit, should Kega and Sabina eventually win the battle to take over the party.
The Secretary-General warned Sabina's wing of the Jubilee Party that they risked being sent to political oblivion for fighting Retired President Uhuru, who he claimed retained massive popularity amongst Mt. Kenya voters.
He also advised Sabina and Kega that it was possible for them to grow without sabotaging the same people who made their political careers.
"People make themselves, they are not made by the office. These people are misguided in their thinking that they will become great politicians by grabbing the party by force," Kioni stated.
"The notion that for an individual to ascend to positions of influence then they must displace people and take forcefully take up positions, is a wrong notion,"
"A good example is Raila Odinga who has been out of elective office for more than 20 years yet he commands the support of half of the country. It means that being in a position does not necessarily guarantee anyone's support," Kioni stated.
While making reference to the recent demonstrations that Gatundu residents staged against Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria for disrespecting Uhuru, the former Ndaragwa Member of Parliament noted that the Retired President is still loved by his people despite retiring as the Head of State.
On Saturday, July 15, Gatundu South residents protested against Kuria over an alleged attack on Uhuru and the larger Kenyatta family. The residents claimed that recent utterances by Kuria against Uhuru were uncalled for and morally wrong.
Kioni warned that the residents of the Mount Kenya region were wiser, and would not allow their leader to be disrespected by people who did not have the interest of the community at heart.
Kioni also claimed that the State was all out to distabilise Azimio la Umoja and all affiliate parties, noting that President William Ruto's administration even went after the computer engineer who developed the coalition's signature collection web portal, tumechoka.net
The embattled Secretary General revealed that the man behind the digital signature collection is living in fear after being confronted by senior government security operatives.
Kioni claimed that the engineer had received threats to his life from individuals who were hellbent on seeing that the portal was brought down and the signature collection did not succeed as intended.
"The engineer's life is in danger because they have gone after him in order to ensure that they bring down the website which we are using to collect signatures.
"It is the same engineer who helped us set up servers both locally and out of the country, but they are now going after him yet he did nothing wrong. He was simply doing his work.
"You can see the kind of regime that we are dealing with. People who are willing to destroy other people's lives just because of simple differences like the signature collection," Kioni claimed.
