Uhuru: New party to foster issue-based politics

The over 10,000 delegates who will attend the launch of the Jubilee Party will start trooping to Nairobi on Wednesday ahead of the highly publicised three-day event starting tomorrow.

Jubilee Party National Steering Committee co-chairman Noah Wekesa said that everything had been put in place and every detail had been meticulously planned.

Dr Wekesa said State House had taken over the planning of the three-day event that has been described as a grand national movement.

“The delegates will start arriving in Nairobi on September 7 and the delegates have been booked in various venues where they will ratify the resolutions to fold and merge to join Jubilee,” said Dr Wekesa.

Meanwhile, workers were on Monday putting the final touches on a multimillion eight-storey building in Pangani on Thika Road that will house the new party.

Social media was on Sunday awash with pictures of the new well-branded building with the party’s logo placed strategically on its windows, and with new Prados that have been branded with the Jubilee Party colours.

“We are serious about building institutions that will outlast this generation and our desire is to show Kenyans that we are not in this to build a party only as an election vehicle,” Senate deputy Majority Leader Kipchumba Murkomen said.

The 12 different parties will have their different National Delegates Conventions on Thursday, which will happen in different venues in Bomas of Kenya and Kasarani Indoor Arena.

Of the 12 parties, TNA will have the highest number of delegates at 1,650, URP (1,000), APK (620), and UDF 600.

The other parties are New Ford Kenya, JAP, PNU, the Republican Council, UPK, The Independent Party, and GNU - and will each bring 500 delegates, sources in the planning team said.

According to a schedule released by the team, the delegates and elected leaders from the different parties will then meet at the Kasarani Indoor Arena.

The event’s chief guest will be the Deputy President William Ruto.

“On September 9, we will all gather after the different parties have ratified their resolutions and we will bring the party to life and leaders will give speeches,” said Dr Wekesa.

“Leaders from other political parties who have been invited from outside the country will also give their speeches on that day.”

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The big launch will then happen on September 10 when President Uhuru Kenyatta will address the convention and unveil names of the outfit’s interim officials.

Even with reported intense lobbying for the powerful posts, President Kenyatta and Mr Ruto have kept the list close to their chests.

The launch of the Jubilee Party has been meticulously planned with the political outfit planning to use the event as a show of might and capability to shake down the opposition ahead of the 2017 General Election.

“We take this process seriously and it will be the legacy of President Kenyatta, a formidable political outfit that will mobilise Kenyans around issues,” said Mr Murkomen.

However, it will be a delicate walk for the new party amidst reports that some leaders - who are not assured of the party’s ticket in 2017 - have opted to join smaller parties.

President Kenyatta has described the new party as a departure from the past, and as a new dawn in the history of the formation of strong political parties.

To show its resolve to reach as many people as possible, sources said that the launch will be beamed live on huge screens in about 20 towns in Kenya.

New Ford Kenya chairman, Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka, had in an earlier interview said that Jubilee wants to portray the best first impression during the launch.

“Image is everything. We are keen to begin on the right footing. It will be a big launch. There is a lot of hope and excitement,” said Governor Lusaka.

The National Alliance (TNA) Secretary-General Onyango Oloo said that all was ready for the launch.

Dr Wekesa dismissed talk that the list of delegates for the different parties was not genuine.

“Every person’s name who is coming as a delegate has their name registered by the Registrar of Political Parties as a delegate,” said Dr Wekesa.