Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s return to active politics has hit a hurdle after the Jubilee Party’s chairperson, Nelson Dzuya, denounced his call for a Special National Delegates Convention.
The meeting, set for May 22, is expected to make leadership changes, including expelling some members from the party. However, Dzuya claims that the meeting did not follow the party’s constitution’s laid-down procedures under Article 23.
Dzuya argued that Uhuru Kenyatta lacked the power to convene an NDC meeting. According to the Jubilee Party chairperson, Uhuru ceased being the leader of the party in March 2023, six months after he retired as the country’s President.
He cited Section 6(1) of the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act, which provides that a retired president shall not hold office in any political party for more than six months after ceasing to hold office as president.
Uhuru, in his notice on calling for an NDC, stated that he had followed the laid down procedures in the party’s constitution. However, Dzuya argues that the meeting cannot proceed since it lacks the quorum requirement.
He notes that NEC members entitled to attend the meeting are 21, and a quorum cannot have less than nine members in attendance.
Uhuru caused a stir on April 26 when he stormed the Jubilee Party Headquarters in Kileleshwa, Nairobi County, to defend the party’s embattled Secretary General, Jeremiah Kioni.
At that time, he castigated the planned ouster and told off the Kega-led faction, remarking that they were free to leave the party instead of causing infighting.
