𝐔𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐠’𝐢 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐮𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐞 𝐍𝐃𝐂

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has handed over the leadership of the Jubilee Party to former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i as the party prepares for its National Delegates Convention (NDC).

Uhuru announced the transition during a meeting with Jubilee officials in Nairobi, saying Matiang’i would take charge of the party as members await the NDC, which is expected to formally approve the new leadership.

“While we wait for NDC, I have decided to let my deputy take over the party leadership. I want to ask you respectfully to accept Fred Matiang’i to take the position of Jubilee party leader,” Uhuru said.

The former President, however, clarified that he was not leaving Jubilee. He said he would remain a party member and take up a senior advisory role.

“I am still in Jubilee. I will be a senior member of the party and will be offering advisory services,” he added.

Matiang’i, who had been serving as one of Uhuru’s deputies, accepted the responsibility and thanked the former President for trusting him with the party’s leadership.

He pledged to continue from where Uhuru had left off and work with other party officials as Jubilee prepares for the next phase of its political activities.

Court rulings behind the transition

The leadership change comes amid two separate High Court decisions concerning the rights of retired presidents to hold political party office.

On September 3, Justice Lawrence Mugambi upheld Section 6 of the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act, which restricts retired presidents from holding leadership positions in political parties for more than six months after leaving State House.

The ruling did not prevent former presidents from remaining party members or participating in political activities.Uhuru subsequently indicated that he was ready to relinquish the Jubilee leadership.

His office said the delayed handover had been linked to an internal party dispute that required legal clarification, rather than reluctance by the former President to leave office.

However, the legal position changed on September 21 when Justice Bahati Mwamuye declared Section 6 of the same Act unconstitutional and void. The judge held that retiring from the presidency does not take away a former president’s constitutional rights as a citizen, including political participation.

The two High Court decisions therefore represent different positions on the same statutory restriction, an important detail in understanding the circumstances surrounding the Jubilee leadership transition.

With the handover now announced, Matiang’i is set to lead the party as it moves towards its NDC, while Uhuru remains within Jubilee in a senior advisory capacity.