President Kenyatta to restore Jubilee’s glory in Mt Kenya 

President Uhuru Kenyatta has devised a complex strategy to make Jubilee Party main political force in the Mt Kenya region as part of his drive to assist Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga’s presidential bid. 

The Head of State is now giving hopefuls running on the Jubilee ticket a variety of benefits, including campaign funding and access to certain government benefits. 

The President aims at keeping aspirants’ mobilisation effort going, which would include inviting back those popular members of the party who had defected. 

Head of State is also said to have taken charge of monitoring progress of ongoing activities in the party, which last month mandated him to continue serving as its leader even after retiring as President, in addition to giving firm instructions to the party’s new leadership and dispatching senior officers to participate in grassroots mobilisation in their respective counties. 

The move seeks to improve the party’s exposure and guarantee that leaders who have remained by him through thick and thin, as well as those who are returning, notably aspirants, “feel valued and accommodated” in his effort to restore the party to its former lively self. 

During the Sagana Three meeting, President Kenyatta said he did not have any problem whatsoever with other parties mushrooming in the region, rather he is keen on rejuvenating Jubilee which has new leadership. He is reported to have told the aspirants that “though we are in Azimio, in Mt Kenya we are Jubilee”. 

In February, Jubilee Party launched an aggressive campaign to reclaim its lost glory and revive its dwindling fortunes after losing dozens of members to the United Democratic Alliance led by Deputy President William Ruto. 

The party has been rocked by waves of defections fueled by the seemingly irreconcilable differences between President Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto since the March 2018 “handshake” that accommodated opposition chief Raila Odinga. 

Out of 10 by-elections since 2018, Jubilee has only won three seats – Wajir West, Baringo South and Garissa. This is rather unexpected of a party that in 2017 boasted of 171 MPs, just 62 shy of the absolute two-thirds majority in Parliament.