President Uhuru Kenyatta has been dealt a blow after a group of Mandera leaders decamped from the Jubilee coalition to join a newly-formed party.
Led by Mandera Senator Billow Kerrow, the leaders on Sunday unveiled the Economic Freedom Party (EFP) at Geneva grounds in Mandera town.
Other leaders who endorsed the new party included; Members of Parliament (MP) Mohamed Huka (Mandera South), Fathia Mahbub (Woman Representative), nominated MP Hassan Osman, Deputy Governor Omar Mohammed Maalim and a host of local leaders.
EFP Party has the blessings of the Mandera Council of Elders which has been nominating leaders for different elective positions in a system known as negotiated democracy.
All the leaders joining EFP were elected on a United Republican Party(URP) ticket but have since decamped allegedly because of frustration and being neglected.
The leaders led by the Council of Elders recently visited President Uhuru Kenyatta allegedly demanding direct nominations for their candidates, but the president is said to have rejected their demands forcing them to form their own party.
“We elected Jubilee in 2013 but from today we are launching our party and will not afford to be in Jubilee anymore. We have started our own vehicle. EFP is neither in Jubilee nor NASA. It is a party for the people and by the people of Mandera," Kerrow explained.
The party is, however, yet to decide which presidential candidate they will support in the upcoming elections.
