Jubilee now severs links with Ruto’s UDA party
Hillary Mageka @hillarymageka
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party has made good its threat to sever ties with Deputy President William Ruto-backed United Democratic Alliance (UDA) by terminating a partial coalition agreement entered in May 2018.
In a move seen to cut DP Ruto to size, the Jubilee Party National Management Committee (NMC) said after considering the prevailing political and legal hurdles facing the proposed coalition, they “had found it improper and untenable to complete the formulation of the Coalition”.
Jubilee insists it signed a pre-election pact with Party for Development and Reforms (PDR), which rebranded to UDA, and is therefore, considered UDA, a new entity.
In a letter to the Registrar of Political Parties, Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju states the President’s party had decided to cease any further engagement and association with the PDR whose officials, symbols and name has metamorphosed beyond recognition in comparison to the PDR, Jubilee worked with previously.
Tuju said the Party has also terminated any further negotiations intended to complete the coalition process as is envisaged by the Political Parties Act.
“However and without prejudice, all members of the dissolved coalition holding leadership positions in the Assemblies shall continue serving as per Coalition Agreement with PDR in May 2018,” Tuju’s letter dated April 20, 2021 read in part.
