Jubilee won’t front a candidate for Msambweni: DP Ruto and Tuju
Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju and Deputy President William Ruto have said the party will not front a candidate for the Msambweni Constituency by-election.
Mr. Tuju said after consultations within the party, they decided to withdraw from the race even after receiving inquiries from 'potentially strong aspirants' to fill the vacancy left by the late Suleiman Ramadhani Dori.
"Following consultations within the party, it has been decided that the Jubilee Party will not be fielding a candidate in the forthcoming Msambweni parliamentary by-election," said Tuju in a statement.
Although the Deputy President, also the party Deputy Leader, was initially of a dissenting view, he said he had to go with the party's decision.
"As I shared here with the Secretary-General at the headquarters, I was of a completely different view and I felt that the party should field a candidate in Msambweni, but a decision has already been made," said the DP shortly after a meeting at the party HQ in Pangani.
Tuju said the issues prevailing around the Parliament also made them to pull back from the Msambweni by-election.
He said the advisory that was recently given by the Chief Justice David Maraga to dissolve Parliament also challenged Jubilee's race for the Msambweni seat.
Mr. Tuju also cited other 'very serious constitutional matters' that Kenya is dealing with which 'require sobriety and reaching across the political divides' to navigate through.
Still, seeing that the seat was formerly occupied by an Orange Democratic Party(ODM) candidate, Mr.Tuju said Jubilee's cooperation with ODM informed the decision to withdraw.
