President Uhuru Kenyatta has personally taken charge of the Jubilee merger and will announce the date 12 parties will unite as the Jubilee Party.
Uhuru, it is said, will stamp his authority on the process, aim to quell infighting over powerful interim positions in the new party and convince recalcitrant parties — another six — to sign on. The preferred tactic is inducement but observers say a shotgun marriage is not out of the question.
The fused party will be the vehicle of Uhuru's reelection campaign next year and for Deputy President William Ruto's bid in 2022.
A number of affiliate parties had been reluctant to merge, fearing they would lose their identities and bargaining power. The merger has been off-again, on-again but they have largely fallen into line, though some elements are disgruntled.
While the merger date is not clear, even among the parties, the Star yesterday learnt it will tentatively be in mid-September.
On Monday, DP Ruto met the merger steering committee for its final meeting and took charge of all merger documents.
Yesterday, the Star learnt the process of dissolution and fusion will be similar to that followed in 2002 by Kanu and the National Development Party led by Raila Odinga.
The day before, Raila had led his party in dissolving so his delegates could join the Kanu National Delegates Conference for the merger celebration at Kasarani.
Officials of different parties in the merger revealed they would have their individual National Delegates Conferences just a day before the joint meeting to reveal the new party.
"We will have one big National Delegates Conference to summarily conclude our merger process. All parties will have met the previous day to ensure hey ratify their dissolution," Noah Wekesa, who co-chaired the steering committee, said.
TNA Secretary General Onyango Oloo said their strategy was to await the joint NDC date to cut costs.
"As TNA, we need one month before we can hold our NDC and once the date is announced, we will work backwards to the preceding day to avoid too many meetings costing a lot," Oloo said.
The plan, the Star also learnt, was to hold it immediately — allowing no time for disaffected members to block the merger.
Another member of the committee, who was representing TNA, Joseph Maathai, told the Star they had fulfilled their responsibilities to give the President instruments of merger.
He said it was now up to Uhuru to decide the time frame remaining for the parties to dissolve and launch the Jubilee Party.
“We are on track and have given the instruments of merger to the two principals, who we will believe will give us a date on which we are to dissolve,” the TNA Executive Director said.
PNU, among the parties resisting the merger, announced it has called its delegates for a national meeting on September 9 to discuss the party's future.
The party has, however, been warming to the union and has sent representatives to recent steering committee meetings.
In a notice dated July 25, PNU secretary general John Anunda said the meetings of the National Governing Council and the National Delegates Convention will take place at the Bomas of Kenya. In mid-March he had said PNU would remain independent.
"The agenda of the meeting will be communicated three weeks or 21 days to the date of the meeting," Anunda said.
The meeting was to be held in April but it was postponed, pending conclusion of affiliate parties' merger talks.
Yesterday, Anunda told the Star he would discuss the agenda of their September meeting later.
It is expected the merger process will be concluded in mid-September, as confirmed by Jubilee Alliance Party secretary general Veronica Maina.
"We intend to finalise the merger. The remaining process may take us up to mid- September. Dates have not been firmed up but communication will be given once we have confirmation from party leaders," Maina told the Star.
JAP was to be the merger party when Uhuru and Ruto first announced the idea but it encountered opposition from some affiliates and supporters.
Last November, Uhuru and Ruto appointed the steering committee and sent it on a retreat in Naivasha where it came up with the party name, a logo and the official colours.
On December 15, 2015, the Jubilee Party held its first Interim National Governing Council meeting in State House and proposed to launch in March this year. It was delayed, however, by an amendment to the Political Parties Act allowing politicians to hop parties without losing their elected positions — a gift to JP.
The meeting endorsed the new party logo — two hands clasped in a yellow circle inside a red ring. The new party's colours are yellow, red and white. It's slogan is Tuko Pamoja.
The Star also established the party has put in place measures to lock out rebels both in Jubilee and Cord, as well as other parties in its strongholds that resist joining the new party.
Wekesa, co-chair of the main steering committee, said the merger will block any post-election agreements in favor of Jubilee Party officials and members after the 2017 elections.
“Anyone willing to support President Uhuru is allowed but no one outside the coalition should expect to have any post election pact with the ruling coalition,” Wekesa said.
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