JAP faces resistance as another Governor says NO

JAP faces resistance as another Governor says NO

A section of leaders from Mount Kenya region have opposed the dissolution of Jubilee coalition affiliate parties and the formation of one party – the Jubilee Alliance Party (JAP).

Tharaka Nithi Governor Dr. Samuel Ragwa joined his Meru County counterpart Peter Munya to disapprove the formation of JAP saying that they can only join hands after they are conversant with the party ideology and constitution.

Ragwa and Munya have remained adamant amidst pressure to join JAP, a new political outfit which President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto are expected to use for his re-election come 2017.

Ragwa, who joined participants at Chuka University during the Eastern and Central Agribusiness Summit that brought together participants from 13 counties, dismissed the recent ‘Nkubu Declaration’ where political leaders from Mt. Kenya East declared to join JAP saying that the Governors are not in any rush to join the new party until they understand the party’s ideology.

Ragwa and Munya are on record declaring that they are not in a rush to join JAP and that they will take adequate time to first study the party and also seek direction from the electorate.

Since its formation, JAP has attracted applause and criticism from members of the ruling Jubilee coalition in equal measure with the likes of Ragwa and Munya opting to shrug off the pressure to join the party.

Munya faulted Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi for going round to convince leaders in the Meru region to leave their parties and join JAP, the vehicle President Kenyatta will use to seek re-election in 2017.

The Meru Governor said such a move will stifle multi-party democracy and vowed to block such advances.

Key coalition constituent parties of the ruling coalition, among them The National Alliance (TNA), the United Republican Party (URP), Ford Kenya, the Alliance Party popularly known as the Bus, the Republican Council among others have until December this year to close shop and lead their members into JAP.

A five-hour consultative meeting at the JAP headquarters attended by leaders of the Jubilee affiliate parties resolved to set up a 30-member national steering committee led by Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi and former Cabinet Minister Dr. Noah Wekesa to oversee the process of transforming the parties into a single political entity.

The team includes Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki, his National Assembly counterpart Aden Duale, Kericho Senator Charles Keter, lawmakers Dr. Naomi Shaaban, Katoo Ole Metito, Jamleck Kamau, Alice Ng’ang’a, Joyce Emanikor and Mary Emase among others.

In early September, President Uhuru Kenyatta said all parties under the Jubilee Alliance must be dissolved and join the newly formed JAP since this will be his vehicle in the 2017 polls.

The President said parties that are now part of Jubilee should start gearing up to join JAP before the 2017 General Elections campaigns kick off.

Tags:

President Uhuru Kenyatta JAP FORD KENYA URP Tharaka Nithi Governor Dr. Samuel Ragwa Tharaka Nithi Governor Dr. Samuel Ragwa

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