An uneasy calm mixed with anxiety hangs over the Jubilee Party’s Kiambu Branch ahead of a critical delegates meeting rescheduled for Monday, May 25, 2026. This follows the abrupt postponement of an earlier convention.
The initial meeting, held at the Kiambu Golf Club on Monday, May 18th, ended prematurely. Deputy Party Leader Dr. Fred Matiang’i, representing Party Leader Uhuru Kenyatta, explained to attendees that an ongoing matatu strike had severely disrupted logistics, making it impossible to proceed with the day’s agenda.
Despite the postponement, the simmering discontent among members and delegates is not directed at Dr. Matiang’i. Instead, anger is aimed squarely at the Kiambu Branch leadership. Delegates accuse local officials of shortchanging them on promised allowances. Many reported arriving at the venue as early as 7:00 AM, only to be sent away after 4:00 PM with what they termed “peanuts.”
Accounts gathered from several of the more than 5,000 attendees reveal that party officials had promised a Ksh 2,000 transport and attendance allowance upon registration. However, after a long and exhausting day, delegates were reportedly handed only Ksh 500.
Salome Mumbi, a small-scale trader from Ndumberi, expressed deep regret over attending the event:”I had great hopes for that day. I prepared early to meet my Party Leader and arrived at the venue by 7:00 AM. It was only after sitting in the field for over eight hours that we were informed of the postponement. To make matters worse, we were shortchanged. I would have been much better off opening my business.”
Paul Kimani, a businessman at the Kiambu Market, echoed her frustrations and pointed an accusing finger at the local leadership:
“If these leaders cannot keep their house in order and stop lying to members, we will defect to other accommodating parties that actually value their members.”
Delegates are now calling on Party Leader and former President Uhuru Kenyatta to urgently intervene in the Kiambu Branch. While praising Kenyatta for his personal sincerity, they warned that failing to address the local leadership crisis could cost him heavily in a region historically considered his political bedrock.
Members reminded the former President that similar internal mismanagement led to the party being heavily outperformed by the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) in the 2022 general election. They urged him to take full control of the branch, noting that while grassroots support for Jubilee is currently stronger than ever, local political sideshows threaten to derail its resurgence.
This growing disillusionment is also shared by several political aspirants. Speaking to the Kiambu Observer, a number of potential candidates warned that they would quietly drift away to rival parties if the chaotic scenes witnessed on Monday are a sign of things to come.
Efforts to reach the top Jubilee Party leadership in Kiambu for comment were unsuccessful, as phone calls and text messages went unanswered
