Former Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju has officially resigned from the party.
In a letter addressed to party leader and former President Uhuru Kenyatta dated August 19, 2025, Tuju expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve and praised Uhuru for his leadership.
Tuju served as Jubilee Secretary General from 2016 to 2022. In his letter, he recalled how Uhuru entrusted him with a powerful position despite Kenya’s tribal politics.
“It was an exceptionally bold political step on your part to have entrusted this sensitive position to me as a person coming from the Luo tribe,” Tuju wrote. He noted that Jubilee was anchored on the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities, yet Uhuru tried to build a truly national party.
Tuju said the 2018 Handshake between Uhuru and Raila Odinga put pressure on the party and widened divisions between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin factions. He said Uhuru had explained the handshake as an effort to bring peace after Raila had sworn himself in as the “People’s President.”
He also pointed out that the handshake strained his personal relationship with then Deputy President William Ruto, despite attempts to mend ties before his near-fatal accident in 2020.
Tuju wrote that he remained loyal to Uhuru as President, party leader and as a cabinet member throughout that period. He further observed that after the Gen Z protests of 2024, President Ruto himself later chose to reconcile with Raila, similar to what Uhuru did in 2018.
“In the ever-evolving ironies of Kenyan politics, after the Gen Z riots of 2024, President Ruto… had to make compromises and do exactly what you had done in 2018; a handshake with Raila Odinga,” Tuju observed.
He thanked Uhuru for their long political partnership, which he said began when they worked together under President Mwai Kibaki in the formation of the Party of National Unity (PNU).
Tuju concluded his letter by saying that although he still hopes to work with Uhuru in the future, he feels he no longer has any value to add to Jubilee Party, and therefore formally resigned.
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