Nyeri Town MP, Kimani Ngunjiri has said that Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju and Vice-Chairman David Murathe must leave the party secretariat.
In a statement on Thursday, Ngunjiri accused the two of working to make the ruling party look like a dictatorship and President Uhuru Kenyatta a dictator.
“What we have seen and learnt is that Tuju and Murathe will not get Jubilee to 2022 if left to their own devices,” he said.
“They have been working very hard to create the perception that Jubilee is a dictatorship and Uhuru is a dictator, so that they can operate with impunity and/or not be held to account for their personal mistakes at the party.”
Ngunjiri noted that the two leaders have been hiding behind claims of receiving instructions from the President.
He added that they are willing to collect signatures from members and aspirants demanding that Tuju and Murathe leave the party secretariat.
On Thursday, the Jubilee Secretary-General while responding to Ngunjiri’s claims, said he cannot argue with his employers.
“Those are my employers, I don’t argue with my employer’s people,” Tuju told the Star on phone.
Efforts to reach Murathe for comment were unsuccessful as his phone went unanswered.
The Jubilee vice-chairman later sent a text saying that he had no comment on the matter.
The lawmaker’s remarks come a day after a section of Jubilee-elected MPs demanded a total overhaul of its leadership.
The nine MPs from the Mt Kenya region on Wednesday announced a cleanup exercise in the party to get rid of leaders they claim are responsible for the dwindling fortune of the outfit.
“We have resolved that the party is due for a leadership overhaul that will see fresh, vibrant, youthful and persuasive leadership driving our vigorous grassroots campaigns,” Kiambu Town MP Jude Njomo said on Wednesday after a brainstorming meeting.
Calls to have Jubilee party leadership changes by the legislators has, however, been challenged by aspirants, who have presented a petition to the party against the exercise being spearheaded by sitting MPs.
On this, Ngunjiri said the competition between aspirants and incumbents will help revitalise the ruling party from the grassroots.
“In 2022 all of us will be aspirants, so I’m happy that an ‘Aspirants Forum’ has emerged to champion our interests in Jubilee. But we need to get Jubilee to 2022; which is where we come in,” he said. BY THE STAR
