By Samuel Ouma
All eyes are on President Uhuru Kenyatta to see whether he will okay or dismiss Deputy President William Ruto’s removal as the Jubilee Deputy party leader.
Ruto was removed from the position on Monday, March 15, by the ruling party’s National Management Committee (NMC) as reported by the Standard.
The second in command was ejected on the ground of sabotaging the party’s agenda and associating with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
The new outfit fielded candidates in the recent by-elections and won one seat. Rumours have it that Ruto is expected to dump Jubilee for the UDA as his presidential quest continues to grow.
Besides, Uhuru and his Deputy have disagreed on the Constitutional Amendment Bill, calling for an expansion of the executive and many other changes.
While Uhuru is wooing Kenyans to back the document, Ruto has maintained that referendum should not be the priority during this economic hard times occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
NMC had submitted its decision to the National Executive Council (NEC) chaired by the President.
Jubilee Party Secretary-General Raphael Tuju said the President could either convene a meeting with NEC or assign the matter to be decided after his authorization.
Tuju told the publication that NMC fired Ruto in line with the party’s constitution.
“The NMC discussed the matter and resolved to remove the DP as per the party constitution. The matter is active, we have the recommendations of NMC and now only waiting for the party leader to convene a NEC meeting to deliberate on the matter,” Tuju was quoted.
Key Ruto’s have already been removed from the Parliament and the Senate’s key positions over party disloyalty.
