Deputy President William Ruto has addressed the frustration he and his allies have been facing in the Jubilee party, noting that the issue saddens him.
Speaking on Thursday night, DP Ruto noted that he was among the founding members of Jubilee and is saddened by how the party is being run today.
According to the DP, the Jubilee Party was formed to bring an end to the politics of ethnicity, and it is unfortunate that the party has been reduced to an organ of disciplining his allies.
On being blocked from the Jubilee Party headquarters in Pangani, Nairobi Ruto noted that the issue is "very emotional" for him.
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"That is very emotional thing for me. Many people don't understand the history of Jubilee. We came from a very bad past where politics was prosecuted on the platform of ethnicity, hate, and division. President Uhuru Kenyatta and I sat and said even if we don't win the election, we must sort out the politics of this country, that is why we brought together almost 12 political parties to form Jubilee," DP Ruto stated.
"I am elected deputy party leader of Jubilee…I have invested time, energy, emotion in building Jubilee…People who have no clue why we assembled the party have taken it hostage and dismembered it…They say I am persona non grata. Really?” he posed.
The DP was banned from accessing the Jubilee Party headquarters in October 2020, after he and his allies stormed the facility and held a meeting.
Addressing the media back then, Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju noted that it was no longer tenable for the DP to use the party platform to advance his 2022 presidential bid.
"We would like to be absolutely clear, that we serve one President at a time...The DP, a self-declared 2022 presidential candidate, will not be allowed to use the party headquarters as a centre of operationalisation of his campaigns and for intimidation," Tuju said.
