The High Court has overturned the expulsion of Jubilee Party Vice Chairman David Murathe and Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni, offering a major victory to the two embattled leaders.
The court reinstated Murathe and Kioni, who had been ousted following internal party disputes that had caused deep divisions within the former ruling party. This was after the faction which defected to Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza camp led by Kanini Kega and Sabina Chege took hold of the Jubilee party and kicked out the two Uhuru allies.
In the same ruling, the court declined to hold Sabina Chege, Kanini Kega, and Joshua Kutuny in contempt for continuing to perform party functions amid the leadership wrangles. The trio had been accused of defying a court order by taking up roles within the party while the case was still under review.
The legal battle stems from an ongoing power struggle within Jubilee, with factions backing different leaders after the 2022 general elections. Murathe and Kioni were ousted by a faction aligned with Chege, Kega, and Kutuny, sparking months of legal battles and public confrontations.
The judge stated that the due process had not been followed in the expulsion of the party leaders, rendering their removal null and void. However, the judge ruled that there was insufficient evidence to hold Kega, Chege, and Kutuny in contempt, as the case surrounding the party’s leadership was still under active deliberation.
This came after the Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu accepted a bid by a faction of the Jubilee Party to suspend Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni, Vice Chairman David Murathe and Treasurer Kagwe Gichohi about a year ago.
The faction of former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party convened a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Nakuruin 2023 and resolved to suspend and replace Kioni, Murathe and Gichohi.
According to Nderitu, the NEC held in Nakuru was procedurally constituted based on the party’s constitution paving way for EALA MP Kanini Kega to replace Kioni at the helm of Uhuru’s party.
By Newsmedia