Top parties set to dissolve, join Jubilee

Thirteen political parties are expected to fold up and join Jubilee Party that is set for launch on Saturday, September 9.

The individual parties will hold separate National Delegates Conferences (NDCs) to adopt their dissolution decisions ahead of the Jubilee Party national convention.

And as the parties prepare for the convention, here is a profile of major parties set to dissolve.

TNA was formed by businessman Lawrence Kariuki in 2000 and later acquired by then Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta in 2012 ahead of the 2013 poll. Under the slogan ‘I believe’, the party promised changes in governance though youthful leaders in 2013 polls. The party is chaired by nominated MP Johnson Sakaja and Onyango Oloo as Secretary General.

TNA has 89 MPs and 17 Senators.

The United Republican Party URP was established by MPs allied to Deputy President William Ruto who mostly decamped from ODM after facing troubles with UDM in January 2012.

Leader of Majority in the National Assembly, Aden Duale, Energy Cabinet Secretary, Charles Keter, and chairman of National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), Francis ole Kaparo, and Kenyan Ambassador to Tanzania, Chirau Ali Mwakwere, are some of the notable persons who spearheaded formation of the party.

URP has 72 MPs and 12 Senators.

The party is chaired by Fafi MP Barre Shil and Fred Muteti as Secretary General.

The Alliance Party of Kenya (APK), famously known as “MBUS”, was formed by Meru Senator Kiraitu Murungi and has a few elected leaders mainly from Meru County, including Governor Peter Munya who is opposed to its dissolution.

UDF is former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi’s party formed after he divorced ODM. After fallout with Jubilee Alliance ahead of the 2013 election, Mudavadi formed the Amani National Congress.

Other parties set to fold and join Jubilee Party are Eugene Wamalwas’s New Ford Kenya, a party that split from Moses Wetangula’s Ford Kenya and Simeon Nyachae’s Ford People and was once vibrant in the 90’s.