The fourth President Uhuru Kenyatta has warned that the gains made under his administration risk being reversed by the Kenya Kwanza government, cautioning against experimenting with critical public welfare programmes.
Speaking on Friday at the Jubilee Party’s highly anticipated Special National Delegates Conference (NDC), Kenyatta expressed concern that landmark initiatives of his government, including health programmes, were being steadily undermined.
In a veiled reference to public unease over the newly established Social Health Authority, he said experimentation with untested schemes threatened the progress made under Jubilee.
The NDC, held after Kenyatta’s faction reclaimed control of the party through the courts, marked a turning point for the former ruling party. Delegates resolved to amend the party’s constitution, removing the provision that automatically installed a sitting President as party leader.
The move is widely viewed as clearing the path for former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i to take over from Kenyatta.In his address, Kenyatta outlined Jubilee’s achievements during the fourth administration, including infrastructure expansion and social welfare programmes, while underscoring the need to protect those gains from policy reversals.
He also announced a nationwide membership recruitment drive, with a particular emphasis on mobilising young people to participate in leadership and national affairs.The revamped party structure includes the creation of a Central Management Committee, which will steer the transition process and chart Matiang’i’s road to coronation as Jubilee leader.
Party insiders describe Matiang’i’s rising profile as a significant boost to the opposition’s unity efforts. Amid concerns within the wider opposition about Jubilee’s resurgence, Kenyatta dismissed claims that the party was pursuing ethnic or regional interests.
Responding to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s DCP Party, Kenyatta stressed that Jubilee remained focused on national politics.The conference signals a new phase for Jubilee, positioning Matiang’i at the centre of the party’s next chapter.