Former ruling party Jubilee has strongly denied suggestions it is warming up to President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance, insisting it remains firmly in the opposition.
Speaking on Spice FM, Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni dismissed speculation about a merger, stressing that the party’s National Delegates Conference had made its position clear. “We are in the opposition, we will work with like-minded individuals and we will continue to put the government in check,” he said.
The remarks came after unease within the broader United Opposition coalition over Jubilee’s re-emergence on the political stage. Deputy party leader of the Democratic Change Party, Cleophas Malala, accused Jubilee of being a “red wheelbarrow” designed to scatter DCP influence in the Mount Kenya region.
Kioni argued that Jubilee had been preoccupied with internal survival battles, including court cases and leadership disputes.
He recalled how former president Uhuru Kenyatta was forced to intervene at the party’s Lavington headquarters in what turned into a chaotic and tear-gas-filled confrontation.
With those struggles behind it, Kioni said Jubilee has reconstituted its National Election Board and is preparing to reclaim its political space.
“Jubilee must do what it must do to reclaim its position. But at this time, we are not joining the government,” he added.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has accused Jubilee of being used to weaken the opposition, but Kioni dismissed the claims as political propaganda. Jubilee, he noted, was a key member of the Azimio coalition in 2022 under Raila Odinga’s candidacy and remains committed to opposition politics.
He added that Gachagua and his DCP party are the ones who may be secretly working.
“Ask about what happened to his corruption cases. As for the goons attacking him, why did they stop? They stopped when he stopped saying Ruto Must Go, and started saying Wantam!”
Despite persistent rumours that the party could back former interior minister Fred Matiang’i as its 2027 presidential candidate, Kioni said no such decision had been made. He pledged that the party’s delegates would determine any choice of flagbearer.
Jubilee remains the third largest party in Kenya by elected and nominated members. While Matiang’i is seen as a potential frontrunner, the former “super CS” has kept a deliberately low profile.
He has been trolled for this, and even once told by Gachagua to mobilize in his ‘village’ like the rest of the opposition principles so that he can negotiate.
For now, Jubilee is seeking to reassert its identity as a disciplined opposition force, rather than a satellite of the ruling party.
