Win for Uhuru as court grants him full control of Jubilee Party

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has regained full control of the Jubilee Party following a High Court ruling that validated key resolutions made during the party’s National Delegates Convention (NDC) in May 2023.

The Civil Division of the Milimani High Court allowed a consent filed by the party’s legal team and key respondents, effectively overturning a previous decision by the Internal Disputes Resolution Committee (IDRC) that had nullified the NDC.

The court affirmed that: “The National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting and the National Delegates Convention (NDC) held on April 28 and May 22, 2023 respectively be and is hereby upheld and consequently the resolutions from the said National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting and National Delegates Convention (NDC) respectively be and are hereby upheld.”

Following the ruling, Kenyatta is now officially back at the helm of the party, with Saitoti Torome confirmed as National Chairman and Jeremiah Kioni as Secretary General, cementing the leadership team endorsed at the 2023 NDC.

The court also affirmed the process by the 2023 NDC ordering that: “The resolutions of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting and the National Delegates Convention (NDC) held on 28th April and 22nd May 2023 respectively, be conveyed to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) for adoption.”

Jubilee’s legal team has now confirmed that the party is in the process of submitting the validated NDC resolutions to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) for formal adoption.

The ruling is the latest blow to the Kanini Kega-led faction, which had previously secured a favourable verdict at the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal (PPDT), challenging the legitimacy of the May 2023 NDC. That ruling has now been effectively nullified.

In March, the outfit's chairman Nelson Dzuya consented to a resolution to make leadership changes.

Dzuya, who was initially allied to the EALA MP Kanini Kega-led rebel faction that sought to take over Jubilee from Uhuru, on Thursday agreed to implement the resolution reached upon by a Special National Delegates Convention (SNDC) in May 2023, where the former president was in attendance.

In the new development, Dzuya filed the consent of the SNDC being lawfully held through lawyer Jackson Awele supported by Jubilee's Internal Disputes Resolution Committee's (IDRC) new lawyer, Franklin Mwendani.

During the hearing, the complainant, through lawyer Awele argued that the dispute between the parties and Dzuya had dissipated, rendering the IDRC functus officio after the defendants objected to the consent.

Awele further noted that the IDRC was not a corporate body as it questioned its capacity to sue or be sued.