Two days after the ruling Jubilee party declared a war on the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party that rebranded recently from the Party of Development and Reforms (PDR), the latter has fought back.
Jubilee Secretary-General Raphael Tuju on Tuesday initiated the process of terminating a pre-election agreement with the rebranded party ahead of the 2022 polls as the rift in the ruling party continues to widen.
In a letter to Anne Nderitu, the Registrar Of Political Parties, Tuju cited ideological differences with the rebranded outfit saying the pact can not stand hence asked for dissolution.
In its response directed to the registrar, UDA has declared a dispute in the proposed dissolution of the coalition agreement.
“As provided for in the coalition agreement deposited in your office on 30th May 2018 in compliance with the Section 10 (4) of the Political Parties Act NO. 11 of 2012, Schedule 3 thereof and further pursuant to the provisions of Article 6 of the said Coalition agreement, we have thereof declared a dispute,” UDA Secretary-General Veronica Maina said.
Secretary-General Veronica Maina statement on the dissolution of coalition agreement between UDA and Jubilee Party. pic.twitter.com/aUGpJqomyq
— United Democratic Alliance, UDA. (@UDAKenya) April 22, 2021
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The SG said relevant organs of the Coalition parties shall undertake the appropriate arbitration processes in a bid to resolve the dispute and update the registrar.
“Meantime, all parliamentarians holding office pursuant to the coalition agreement and in particular, the deputy majority leader Senator Fatuma Dullo should continue holding office until such a time as the disputes arbitration panel shall determine the fate of the coalition.”
While requesting for the dissolution of the pact, Tuju had indicated that efforts to finalize the coalition agreement faced legal hurdles.
In arriving at the decision to sever links, Tuju said the Jubilee party’s National Management Committee considered, among others, that officials who were engaged in coalition discussions had been changed and the new officials exhibited hostility by actively fielding candidates in areas outside the original areas covered by the cooperation.
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The areas included counties of West Pokot, Wajir, lsiolo, Garissa and Mandera where Jubilee Party had experienced the challenge of clan guided democracy.
“There being no harmonisation of our policy and vision we have found ourselves as strange fellows especially with the UDA use of their identity as ‘hustlers’ which has negative dictionary meaning and connotation. This is also at complete variance with our motto of Tuko Pamoja that seeks to unite Kenyans and not divide them along ethnic or class lines,” said Tuju.
Tuju noted that apart from fielding candidates against Jubilee candidates, some of the UDA members have continued to refer to Jubilee Party in “derogatory terms even in the public domain making it impossible to engage in any coalition-building discourse”.
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“The Party has therefore deeded to pull out of any further negotiations intended to complete the coalition process as is envisaged by the Political Parties Act and to cease any further engagement and association with the PDR whose officials, symbols and name has metamorphosed beyond recognition in comparison to the PDR we worked with previously,” he added.
Tuju, however, said all members of the dissolved coalition holding leadership positions in the Assemblies shall continue serving as such.
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“This is to request that you take note of the content of this letter and to put on record our revocation of the provisional coalition agreement lodged in your offices on the 6th of May 2018 that was never completed,” he wrote.
UDA is associated with Deputy President William Ruto.
The DP is on record saying it’s the second-best party to use in his race to State House in 2022 if the wrangles in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee persist.
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