Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The declaration by the ruling Jubilee Party that it will field a
candidate in the Kibra by-election on November 7 has further exposed
the internal conflicts in the President Uhuru Kenyatta-led party.
Barely
hours after Secretary-General Raphael Tuju issued a statement inviting
aspirants to apply for the party’s ticket on Monday, a letter he
purportedly wrote was sent to the electoral agency bearing five names,
including that of football star McDonald Mariga.
Others on the list were Mr Morris Peter Kinyanjui, Mr Mikinyingi Walter Trenk, Mr Said Ibrahim and Ms Doreen Nangame Wasike.
The
emergence of this list has further exposed the underlying tension in
the party resulting from a perceived cold war between Mr Kenyatta and
his deputy, Mr William Ruto.
The
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) wrote to the
party seeking a clarification on the letter it received on Monday.
In
a brief statement on Tuesday, the agency confirmed receiving the letter
but noted that it had written to the party and forwarded a copy of it
for “information and further action”.
“The Commission received a letter on Monday,
26 August 2019 at 5pm, forwarding names of aspirants of Jubilee Party
for the Kibra by election. However, it has come to the attention of the
Commission that Jubilee Party has denied authoring the said letter and
termed it as fake,” the IEBC said.
“Consequently,
the commission has written to the party forwarding a copy of the letter
for the party’s information and further action,” it added.
The
letter was addressed to IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati. State House
digital strategist and blogger Dennis Itumbi was among the first people
to circulate it on social media. It reads, “Following your notice of
vacancy of Kibra constituency, Nairobi County dated August 16, 2019, the
Jubilee party hereby forwards to you the names, identification card
number and gender of our aspirants for your action.”
But,
when contacted for comment, Mr Tuju denied writing the letter, only
saying that he had issued a press statement on Monday indicating that
the party will field a candidate in the Kibra by-election.
“I
just gave a press conference telling those who are interested in
contesting to get in touch because we won’t do the normal nomination
process in which people line up or vote or whatever,” he said. “Ours
will be an interview process whose deadline is Friday.”
On the letter to the IEBC he said: “Some busybody somewhere is trying to do something I don’t understand. I will investigate.”
“The
signature which is there is fake. Well, I sign like that for certain
types of communication but for official communication to IEBC there is a
specific signature with secret codes which is not that one,” he added.
He
revealed that IEBC first notified him of the letter but was reluctant
to admit it “since they detected the signature lacked the normal secret
codes”.
Tuesday, Jubilee Deputy Secretary-General Caleb Kositany appeared to read from a different script.
Mr
Kositany, the MP for Soy, appeared to authenticate the list, saying,
“Those are part of the aspirants who have expressed interest and others
will still come. So let’s just wait until we clear the process.”
Meanwhile, ODM Secretary- General Edwin Sifuna expressed confidence that the party will recapture the seat.
“Let us meet at the ballot,” Mr Sifuna told Jubilee and other parties that have expressed interest in the seat.
Mr Okoth succumbed to colorectal cancer on July 26.
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