Leading blindly? Uhuru accuses Ruto of 'untested experiments'

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday accused his predecessor William Ruto of undoing some of his administration's key achievements and replacing them with untried and untested policies which had led to great losses and suffering by Kenyans.

Uhuru was livid that some flagship projects, such as Linda Mama program, free education, the Standard Gauge railway, Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport corridor project, revival of Kisumu port had been discontinued or restructured.

Speaking during the Jubilee’s Special National Delegates Conference held at Ngong Race Course, Uhuru said Kenyans continued to suffer as they waited for the untested schemes to take shape.

The former President said he had warned Kenyans, but his message fell on deaf ears and was lost in the noise of insults, character assassinations, myths and stories of hustlers versus dynasties, observing that his caution to Kenyans not to elect President Ruto had been vindicated by time.

 “Some of the truths we spoke of yesterday have become the realities of today. As we continue to dwell in rhetoric rather than progress, we repeat the mistakes of the past. Some of the truths we spoke have become the nightmares that many are living with," he added

He also accused President Ruto’s administration of misusing some of the security achievements established by his administration to instill fear and to persecute citizens deemed to go against the current regime.

"This machine that we built was not meant to face the citizens. It was not supposed to be a source of fear and conflict with our citizens. Ilikuwa ya kulinda wananchi sio kuumiza," he noted.

He expressed optimism that Kenyans had learnt a lesson to make the right choices at the ballot to avoid destroying the foundation of the country due to political sloganeering.

At the same time, Uhuru indirectly hit at former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for establishing a regional party, saying the country needed national parties driven by the manifesto and not parties built on the foundations of regional balkanization.

“It is wrong to claim that this party belongs to this region or that region. Let us have national parties that are united because of a manifesto, not based on where their leaders come from. There is no reason for Jubilee members not to elect a person from every part of the country as long as you are sure that the leader you choose will commit to work for Kenyans from every corner, led by the pursuit of justice and without stealing form public coffers and without isolating any leader.

In a hint of the battle expected to unfold , Uhuru said that the Jubilee party would field candidates in all the elective positions in 2027. He said his intention is to hand over the leadership of the Jubilee party to a new set of leadership in a bid to inject new blood into the management of the party and assured members that he would personally oversee the transition.

The recruitment drive, The Standard has learnt, will lead to grassroots elections and later the national elections, where those interested in the leadership positions will endear themselves to the delegates who will vote for them. 

Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi, who is poised to succeed Uhuru, attended the event which  Jubilee Secretary General, Jeremiah Kioni explained was only attended by party members. He  is among the leaders aspiring to run for the party leader position. 

While expressing regrets of the forceful takeover of the party by a section of rebel leaders sponsored by Kenya Kwanza, who had momentarily unseated him, Uhuru maintained that those who wanted to occupy various party positions should seek the mandate from the party members "who are the owners of the party" as opposed to embarking to machinations to get the leadership positions. 

 "It is my hope that from today, we shall see the end of machinations and embark on a democratic process where members will have a say on  the party leadership," he said. 

 He claimed the faction, led by Nominated MP Sabina Chege and East African Legislative Assembly MP Kanini Kega, had been 'sent' to disrupt the leadership of the ruling party and recalled how he, his family and members of his administration had been targeted by the current administration. 

 He was referring to the takeover mounted by Chege and Kega in May 2023, who had assumed the position of the party leader and the Secretary General of the party respectively, kicking out Uhuru and Jeremiah Kioni. 

The two had taken over the leadership, but their strategy was thwarted by the High Court, which returned the leadership to Uhuru's grip. 

Uhuru, however, maintained that he would not be led by hate and bitterness, as that would disrupt his mission. 

 "We are ready to rejuvenate and reinvigorate from the grassroots level and inject new blood on our organs. We need men and women who younger in terms of age and spirit, men and women of integrity and who can be entrusted with our future," Uhuru said. 

 He said, despite the party lying low for the last three years, Jubilee was now a party to watch as it would unite all Kenyans and field candidates in all the elective positions in the 2027 general election. 

 At the same time, Uhuru said that although Azimio La Umoja Coalition had changed, Jubilee would remain a member of the coalition until the relevant party organs decided otherwise. 

"When we last convened an NDC before the 2022 general election. The party resolved to be a member of the Azimio coalition because as party leader then and now  I was convinced that the coalition and its members shared a common vision for our country.

“The coalition has undergone changes. However, notwithstanding these changes, the party as per the decision of our organs remains a member or what remains of our coalition and any decision whether to re-invest in it or leave it will be a decision of the organs,” Uhuru said.

The changes Uhuru was talking about included the decision by its presidential candidate and party leader, Raila Odinga had joined forces with Ruto to form the board-based  government.

According to sources, the decision of whether  Jubilee will exit Azimio will be made by the National Delegates Conference which will be held after the completion of the recruitment, grassroots, and county elections, as they converge to effect the changes of the party leadership.

During the national delegates meeting, Kioni announced the amendment of the party Constitution, which included the establishment of the Central Management Committee, making changes in the National Elections Board, domiciling the Internal Dispute Resolution Committee under the management of the party, among others.

 “During the period where the party had leadership wrangles, we had three dispute resolution committees that used to lock themselves in the hotels and introduce unilateral decisions which were not in tandem with the Constitution. We must cure this by ensuring that they are under the party leadership and answerable to the top leadership.”

Kioni added, ‘The office of the party leader is not to be taken to the court. We must also insulate this office from embarrassment. Our Constitution talks about the party leader being the President of the Republic of Kenya. Since our leader is retired, we must move forward and make the necessary amendments,” said Kioni.

The resolutions of the party will be published in two weeks, before the party starts the recruitment drive.