Jubilee Party, which is led by Uhuru, on Friday, February 4, after holding a national executive meeting accused UDA, which is affiliated with Ruto, of stealing its data.
The ruling party claimed that UDA was ulawfully using its data to convince Kenyans that it is the most popular party in the country.
Responding to the claims, UDA through a press release, dismissed the allegations as baseless, instead, castigated Jubilee for questioning the legitimacy of its party members.
Through the response signed by UDA Secretary General, Veronica Maina, the Ruto affiliated party called out the Uhuru-led Jubilee, accusing it of overstepping its mandate by trying to audit the membership data of other parties.
“To begin with, the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) is the custodian of all Party membership Registers. Consequently and ordinarily, the Jubilee Party has no mandate or jurisdiction to audit or account for other Political Parties Membership other than its own,” UDA stated.
Explaining its huge number of members, UDA noted that the party – since its inception – has been engaging its supporters and conducting vigorous recruitment of members in all the counties.
“Since its inception, UDA embarked on and is conducting vigorous recruitment of members in all the 47 counties. These activities have been ongoing with emphasis on grassroots support in tandem with our ‘ Bottom – Up’ economic model approach.”
Responding to Jubilee over its submissions to Registrar of Political Parties, Anne Nderitu, to expunge the party, UDA stated that it is ready to provide all its data to justify the numbers.
“These are records availed to and always available for audit by the Office of Registrar Of Political Parties (ORPP). In their capacity and in conducting their due diligence, the ORPP has previously done random audits of party membership. UDA is open to continuous audit by the ORPP,” part of the statement by the party read.
UDA, which is chaired by the former Machakos Senator Johnson Muthama, is seeking to field candidates in all elective positions, with DP Ruto being fronted as the party’s presidential candidate for the August 9 General Election.
Jubilee Party on the other hand, through a Parliamentary Group meeting, revealed that it will not be fielding a presidential candidate.
However, most of its members are leaning towards Azimio La Umoja affiliated with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader, Raila Odinga.
Source: KENYAGIST.COM