Jubilee Party lawmakers have declared that they are ready to join Kenya Kwanza and work with President William Ruto.
The leaders who supported Azimio leader Raila Odinga in the August 2022 General Election told the Head of State during a meeting at State House, Nairobi, on Monday, that they will not take part in opposition “confrontational politics,” which they believe are outdated.
They also said that the public engagements which Raila intends to hold across the country, are a threat to national unity five months after the General Election.
“We need to build a bigger and better team that will work together to effectively prosecute the agenda of Kenyans,” Ruto said after meeting 13 MPs, who were also joined by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Nominated Senator Sabina Chege and East African Legislative Assembly Speaker Kanini Kega led the delegation to State House.
Others were David Kiaraho (Ol Kalou), Irene Njoki (Bahati), Zachary Kwenya (Kinangop), Shadrack Mwiti (South Imenti), Mark Mwenje (Embakasi West), Amos Mwago (Starehe), Daniel Karitho (Igembe Central), Stanley Muthama (Lamu West), and Joseph Githuku (Lamu).
Ruto, who agreed to work with the lawmaker in the interest of Kenyans, said that the country cannot move forward by leaving others behind and he is determined to end tribal politics.
“We had a good discussion with the president, and we will work together,” Ms Chege told The Standard on phone.
The MPs told The Standard that the president assured them that development would take place without discrimination.
Ruto also said that he will work with everyone to ensure that he leaves Kenya better than he found it.
“We are not allowed to speak after the president has spoken, but the president asked us that whatever we want to do, we must follow the law. Even if we wanted to join Kenya Kwanza, we must follow the law,” an MP who attended said.
Former Nyeri East MP Ngunjiri Wambugu said that Jubilee was not used to confrontational politics and they were ready to work with the government in a structured way since they are all serving Kenyans.
He argued that Azimio’s calls for post-election rallies were putting Kenya back in a political mood, months after the elections.
“We will use dialogue to engage Kenyans and the country’s leadership. We know Raila is using rallies and other means to be called to work with the government,” Ngunjiri said.
“And we will not blackmail the government for individual interests,” he added.
Ngunjiri said politicians must shun demonstrations and chaos to build a good, peaceful country after the hotly contested 2022 elections.
“Jubilee is not involved when Azimio is eating the national cake. You saw what happened during the formation of House committees, where Jubilee was left out,” he said.
The former MP claimed that Azimio was now pushing personal interests instead of supporting the government of the day to implement its manifesto.
He said that Azimio needs to work with government but not to cause chaos and dismember the country.
“It is clear that everyone in Kenya Kwanza understands that Raila wants to be part of the people running the government. And he is fighting for it, and that’s why Kenya Kwanza are reluctant to listen to him,” Ngunjiri said.
He claimed that Jubilee was in turmoil and they were debating their next step.
“Raila is looking for accommodation and not a handshake the way he has done it before,” Ngunjiri said.
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