Jubilee kicks off grassroots revamp with eyes on 2027

The Jubilee Party has launched grassroots mobilisation and membership recruitment as it tries to rebuild its base ahead of 2027 general election.

Presidential aspirant Fred Matiang’I on Sunday said the party is now reaching out to old members who left the party, those who want to vie for elective positions and those who want to join.

“We now want to move together in efforts of building our nation and fix that which has been destroyed in our country,” Matiang’i told faithful of St Martin De Porres in Karura, Kiambu county.

The party held its first grassroots meeting on Friday, marking the beginning of a nationwide effort to reorganise its structures and re-energise its support base.

The meeting also launched Jubilee’s countrywide member recruitment drive.

Secretary general Jeremiah Kioni said the initiatives seek to restoring the party’s influence as a national movement grounded in issue-based politics and responsive leadership — and not regional politics.

Kioni said Jubilee stands ready to restore dignity, accountability and competent leadership because Kenya deserves better than the current leadership and governance

"Jubilee is the only party with national appeal and presence across the country with at least 7.1 million votes and it is the vehicle that can deliver the presidency,” Kioni said. “Our goal is to rebuild Jubilee into a strong national, issue-based political movement.”

The secretary general said Jubilee welcomed 100 new members on October 5, a development he described as proof that Kenyans are “regaining faith in focused, accountable leadership”.

Among other initiatives, the party is building grassroots structures, onboarding the youth, as well as former party officials and members.

Kioni said Jubilee will invest in strengthening party structures at the grassroots, to avoid repeating the mistakes of the 2022 polls.

“Even as we move together as a unit [United Opposition], the question is, are you having structures on the ground that can deliver the presidency?” he asked.

“In 2022, one of the things that was our undoing was that as we moved together with Raila, we thought someone else was organising the agents, only to realise many of our stations did not have agents. That is organisation that must be done and that is what we are doing,” Kioni said.

Deputy organising secretary Pauline Njoroge yesterday tol the Star that more political activities will be undertaken, but the schedule and agenda of the events would be shared as soon as it is ready.

Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta is taking the lead in reviving his former party. It lost power in 2022 after internal divisions and defections to UDA, but has been working to reassert itself as a credible political force in the opposition.

The party has settled on former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i as its presidential candidate in 2027.

Speaking during Friday’s meeting, Uhuru said the party will field the “best possible candidates” in all races in upcoming elections.

Uhuru also underscored the need for a generational statement of change to focus the youth.

 “⁠I have watched quietly the ongoings of the recent past and greatly admired the tribeless, steadfast and courageous nature of today’s generation, a generation that knows what it wants and is determined to achieve it, whatever the cost,” Uhuru said.

Party officials said the youth-focused movement will be replicated in other counties to build grassroots energy, promote civic participation and prepare a new generation of party leaders.

Already, in what appears to be a renewed bid to connect with younger voters, the party unveiled the Kiambu Youth Impact Circle Movement.

The initiative seeks to galvanise the youth bloc and give young people a more prominent role in Jubilee’s revival.

Matiang’i, accompanied by former Kiambu Governor James Nyoro, attended the launch that emphasised his endorsement as the party’s flagbearer.

Officials had also said Jubilee was going after its former officials and senior politicians, who had either moved to different political outfits or went under.

 “You saw former Senator Kembi Gitura was quite prominent during Friday meeting, just months after he resigned as chairman of Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital Board,” a source aware of the strategic planning told the Star.

“More of the senior politicians will be courted back.”

Former Nyeri Town MP Ngunjiri Wambugu, who was briefly an aide to ex-Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, is also among politicians who have returned to the Jubilee fold.