This archive report was first published on 21 June 2020.
Herman Manyora Warns Uhuru Kenyatta Over Jubilee Asili ¶
Published on June 21, 2020
Political analyst Herman Manyora has warned President Uhuru Kenyatta that his attempts to clip Deputy President William Ruto's wings could backfire.
Manyora, a University of Nairobi lecturer, made the remarks on June 20, 2020, while commenting on the Jubilee Party's wrangles and the unveiling of the Jubilee Asili Centre by Deputy President Ruto on May 21, 2020.
He noted that by meeting de-whipped Jubilee legislators at the newly-unveiled Jubilee Asili Centre, Ruto was confronting President Kenyatta directly for the first time.
Manyora observed that Uhuru's move to remove Ruto's allies from key positions could haunt him as Ruto had seen his cards.
He opined that if Ruto were to resign as Deputy President and have Jubilee Asili as a fully-fledged party, he would secure the support of three important groups in his quest for power.
These groups include people who hate the government, civil society, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), who would set aside their reservations about Ruto as they cared more about taking on Uhuru's administration for its alleged misdeeds.
Manyora stated, "Your approach towards dealing with William Samoei Ruto may come to haunt you [President Kenyatta], and I am not saying you hit him."
He added that the pressure from the civil society would ensure Ruto was shielded from prosecution emanating from the Executive.
Manyora noted that progressive forces who backed the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) in 2002 worked with hitherto Kenya African National Union (KANU) die-hards to defeat former President Daniel Arap Moi's preferred successor Uhuru Kenyatta.
He also noted that when former Prime Minister Raila Odinga ran for President in 2007, he joined hands with 'dubious characters' hoping to remove Mwai Kibaki from power.
Ally's of the Deputy President have maintained that they are still members of the Jubilee Party despite the existence of the new centre.
They argued that the centre was unveiled because they had been blocked from accessing the party's Pangani headquarters by Secretary-General Raphael Tuju and Vice-Chair David Murathe.
Murathe has, however, denied that the legislators were blocked from accessing the party's headquarters. He further warned them against using Jubilee symbols if they planned on registering a new party.
