Raphael Tuju resigns from Jubilee Party
By Joel Masibo, August 20, 2025Former Rarieda Member of Parliament (MP) Raphael Tuju has formally resigned from the Jubilee Party.
In a resignation letter dated August 19, 2025, Tuju expressed gratitude to former President Uhuru Kenyatta for entrusting him with the powerful position of Secretary General between 2016 and 2022, describing the move as a bold political step given his ethnic background.
“It was an exceptionally bold political step on your part to have entrusted this sensitive position to me as a person coming from the Luo tribe, while the anchor of the party was essentially the Kikuyu and Kalenjin tribes,” Tuju wrote.
Tuju noted that Jubilee was born out of a dream to transcend tribal politics and create a truly national party but acknowledged the challenges that came with Kenya’s polarised ethnic landscape.
He recalled his own political setbacks, including his unsuccessful bid for the Rarieda parliamentary seat, which he lost partly due to perceptions of not being “Luo enough”. Tuju drew parallels with Uhuru’s earlier political struggles, citing his defeat in Gatundu South under KANU when he was judged “not Kikuyu enough”.
2018 handshake
Tuju admitted that the 2018 handshake between Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga, while intended to bring peace and stability, also fuelled divisions within Jubilee, particularly.
“To your credit, you shared with me and President Ruto the rationale for the handshake as being a way of building bridges and stabilising the country after the hostility of Raila swearing in as the ‘People’s President’,” he said.
He revealed that the handshake created lasting hostility between him and President William Ruto, despite several attempts to reconcile, a situation worsened by his near-fatal accident in 2020.
Loyalty and political irony
Tuju emphasised his loyalty to Uhuru throughout his tenure in government and noted the irony of Kenyan politics, pointing out that President William Ruto himself was forced into a handshake with Raila following the Gen Zs protests of 2024.
“In the ever-evolving ironies of Kenyan politics, after the Gen Z riots of 2024, President Ruto, now bearing the full responsibility of the weight of carrying the state, had to make compromises and do exactly what you had done in 2018: shake hands with Raila Odinga,” Tuju remarked.
In the letter, Tuju also urged Kenyans to look beyond ethnic divisions and focus on shared challenges such as unemployment and poverty, which he described as the real enemies of progress.
“The time will soon come when more Kenyans will understand that our enemy is lack of employment and dignified income and not the other tribe,” he said.
He also highlighted Kenya’s potential despite economic struggles, noting that the country remains strategically important, even to the United Nations. Concluding his resignation, Tuju said he no longer saw value he could add to the Jubilee Party but expressed hope of future collaborations with Kenyatta.
“I still look forward to working with you in the future. However, at present, I see no more value that I can add to the Jubilee Party. I therefore tender my resignation,” he wrote. The letter was also copied to Jeremiah Kioni, the current Secretary General of the Jubilee Party.