Inside UhuRuto warpath over Jubilee Party 2022 presidential candidate
By Anthony Mwangi, May 4, 2020It is an all-out war in Jubilee with the 2022 election presidential ticket being the ultimate prize in the escalating fight for control of the ruling party.
Deputy President William Ruto’s supporters yesterday declared that he would not run for president on the ticket of any other party other that of Jubilee, which he founded with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
This even as People Daily learned that Ruto’s allies have lined up a series of dossiers which they claim expose scandals involving people close to Uhuru.
The dossiers, according to our sources, include business deals with State agencies and parastatals as well as political schemes which they said were targeting the DP.
The pro-Ruto team is also challenging their proponents to deny or confirm that they had registered another political party, United National Party (UNP), as their vehicle in 2022.
They claimed a fundsdrive was held two weeks ago at a city hotel where more than Sh64 million was realised. Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya was the chief guest and donated Sh5 million.
A picture is painted of an emboldened group of politicians who are ready for an all-out war with the Jubilee party leadership even at the expense of their political careers.
Among other things, the DP team will be demanding that the party leader declare in public that his deputy will be the Jubilee candidate in 2022.
“Ruto will vie on a Jubilee ticket come what may. The reason why the DP picked the party is because he believed in its aspiration of a united Kenya and will not be pushed out by brokers,” said Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa, a close ally of Ruto.
Ichung’wa said Ruto’s side will now train its arsenal towards the money allocated to the party through the Political Parties Fund.
Management changes
“The party expects Sh500 million from the fund. We will be demanding full disclosure of how the money is spent,” said Ichung’wa, adding that the push to replace the management team could be part of a scheme to squander the money by some top officials.
He said the speed with which members of the management team were replaced was questionable.
“What is so difficult in doing the right thing? Why not call a National Executive Council meeting and invite all to decide. The so-called deep state will not dictate us on how to run the party. The fight will be messy and chaotic, take my word,” Ichung’wa said.
But Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju accused the Ruto group of blackmail.
“Some of those individuals are using the Jubilee platform to prosecute extraneous issues. Some of them have tax issues at the Port of Mombasa. We want mutual respect and not insults, they should not purport to speak for the party deputy leader,” said Tuju.
He accused the Ruto allies of contradicting the DP.
“The Deputy President has declared that he does not expect the party ticket on a silver platter. He expects to compete for it. Why are they contradicting him?” he asked.
“The leaders should use the relevant party structures to address issues. Why call for a National Executive Council meeting at a funeral?” he asked.
Expose scandals
Another Ruto close ally, Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua, told the Jubilee party leadership to abandon the idea of taking away the party from Ruto.
“The likes of Tuju should be told that a party is made up of members not offices. His thinking is misguided since the party followers take the party leader and his deputy as the party supremos,” Gachagua said.
Ruto supporters, who feel their man was being unfairly targeted by his opponents, have threatened to go public and name alleged scandals touching on individuals who have remained untouchable even as they label the DP corrupt.
“We will name those behind the Afya House scandal, the National Youth Service (NYS) and many more who are being shielded by the system,” said another pro-Ruto MP who sought anonymity.
Tuju has been the subject of condemnation by pro-Ruto politicians who accuse him of instigating changes calculated to undermine the DP’s influence in the party.
And though Ruto has been keen not to be seen to be antagonising his boss, his surrogates have been openly attacking Uhuru’s men in the party.
Murang’a Senator Irungu Kanga’ta, who is a member of the Kieleweke side of the Jubilee Party that is opposed to Ruto, said: “We need peace in the party.
We need to rally behind the President who is busy currently fighting Covid-19 pandemic, cutting down taxes to cushion businesses and the common folk. These divisions do not augur well for the country particularly this time when we are facing existential challenges.”