Sabina Chege says Jubilee is now an independent party, linked to no coalition

This was intimated by the interim party leader nominated MP Sabina Chege on Wednesday at the Bomas of Kenya where they had gone to submit their memoranda in support of the ongoing bipartisan talks.

Addressing the media, Chege said that they have already furnished National Assembly speaker Moses Wetangula with documents entailing their political stance which notes that they have no formal agreement with any political coalition.

"Our position is that we are an independent political party and we want to be represented as Jubilee party. Today we've just come to drop our documents hopefully we get an opportunity to give our views on the issues," said Chege.

In the memoranda, Chege said that they have outlined issues they would want to be exhaustively tackled during the talks starting with the organisation and independence of political parties.

She argued that the affairs of any political party should not be interfered with, especially after a General Election and should be allowed to make decisions independently which she says has affected them and cost them representation in Parliament.

"You cannot stay in a coalition/marriage where you feel like you're being mistreated and that's what happened to Jubilee party. You know what happened after the elections," Chege noted.

The second issue in their memoranda is the inclusion of the 2/3 gender representation in government, which she said they want to be actualised not only in the national government but also in county levels.

"We support the issue of gender in the National Assembly and also in the counties. We should not also focus on the national assembly but we hope that the issue will be looked at everywhere," she said.

On the creation of the office of the opposition leader, Chege said that Jubilee wants the second contender after an election to be the official leader of opposition in the National Assembly while their running mate is the leader of the opposition in the Senate.

They also want a comprehensive framework to be installed for regulating the anti-government protests that have now been a tendency after elections.

"We are very concerned about what happens after elections. If somebody calls for any demonstrations, we are proposing that if any destruction of property happens then those people should be held liable," said Chege.

So far, the 10-member bipartisan team is crunching down a five-point agenda to iron out the standoff between the government and the opposition.

The issues include Outstanding Constitutional matters, Electoral justice and related matters, Entrenching funds into the Constitution, Establishment and entrenchment of State offices, and Fidelity to Political Parties/Coalitions and the law on multiparty democracy.

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka is leading the Azimio dialogue team, joined by his DAP-Kenya counterpart Eugene Wamalwa, Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi, Nyamira Senator Okongo Omogeni and Malindi MP Amina Mnyazi.

The Kenya Kwanza team is led by National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wa and others include Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot, Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire, EALA MP Hassan Omar and Bungoma Woman Rep Catherine Wambilianga.