Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni has asked Azimio coalition members to stay put and stop migrating to other parties or risk losing their elected seats.
Speaking after meeting the party’s elected leaders in Nakuru Thursday morning, he said those shifting alliances after the election have shown that they “lack leadership qualities”.
“Any member of the Jubilee Party exhibiting wayward behaviour and planning to switch from one party to another should know that they risk losing their seats. Remember we had a pre-election coalition agreement which we would want to remain faithful to for the next five years,” said Mr Kioni.
According to Mr Kioni, migrating from one party to another is enough grounds for any voter to challenge their stay in office. He also noted that shifting now doesn’t have an effect on the House majorities.
Jubilee Party Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni addresses journalists after meeting the party’s elected leaders in Nakuru County on August 19, 2022./Joseph Openda | Nation Media Group
Mr Kioni also urged the independent leaders to remain independent without showing allegiance to either party as they also risk losing their seats.
Speaking on the just-ended electoral process, he then reiterated claims of rigging, alleging that it had happened “on an industrial level”. However, he did not avail any proof to support his claims.
His comments come just hours after UDM, a party owned by outgoing Mandera governor Ali Roba, ditched the Raila Odinga-led Azimio la Umoja coalition for President-elect William Ruto‘s Kenya Kwanza. UDM won two governor positions, seven parliamentary seats and at least 35 ward representatives in last week’s election, translating to a significant boost for Dr Ruto’s coalition.
However, under the law, UDM is still under Azimio since an earlier pact stipulates that they are ony allowed to leave in December.
Additionally, 10 of the 12 independent MPs elected to parliament have signalled that they are crossing over to Kenya Kwanza. An independent MP is one who is elected free of any political party backing and is in fact required to have resigned from any party at least three months to the polls to be eligible to vie.
But while they are, by design, required not to associate with any outfit, independent candidates have often aligned with parties or coalitions they either contested in during the nominations or see as being closer to their ideology.
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