Uhuru expected to set new date for Jubilee NDC meeting – Nairobi Times

President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to set a new date for the Jubilee NDC summit as he races against time for a 2022 deal with ODM boss Raila Odinga. 

The National Delegates Convention is tipped to approve a political marriage between Jubilee and ODM and ratify a new party leadership lineup as the President seeks to steady the outfit. 

On Monday, Jubilee deputy secretary-general Joshua Kutuny told the Star the President will soon settle on a fresh date for the NDC to allow the party to execute immediate assignments. 

“The President asked for the NDC to be postponed because it was clashing with his diary. We hope he will soon pick another date,” he said.

The President had cancelled the NDC that was earlier scheduled for November 30 because he is delivering the State of the Nation Address to Parliament on Tuesday. 

The Star has established that the summit could be held on the second week of December, a few days after Raila hosts his Azimio la Umoja extravaganza at the Kasarani gymnasium on December 10. 

Raila is expected to declare whether he will run for the presidency or not in the event expected to be graced by local and international dignitaries. 

It has emerged that a technical committee working on the rebranding of the Jubilee Party would have recommended radical changes to the party’s name and slogan. 

This is aimed at breathing freshness into the ruling outfit that is reeling from months of internal turmoil that has threatened to sink the party ahead of the 2022 elections. 

The NDC – the supreme decision-making organ of the party – is expected to approve the proposed changes including new substantive officials of the party. 

“The technical team working on the revamp strategy is looking at so many elements and all that will be made clear when delegates meet,” Kutuny said. 

The summit will bring together over 5,000 delegates from across the 47 counties with each constituency rallying at least 20 representatives to the NDC. 

The party will invite international dignitaries from across the globe in what officials said would be part of the plan to showcase Jubilee’s legacy. 

“The President will invite his friends from other countries while the party will also send invitations to political party leaders from other nations with which we share ideologies,” Kutuny said. 

During the NDC Uhuru is expected to make clear his succession game plan that would give a big boost to MPs who have stuck with him. 

He is expected to kick out Deputy President Ruto.

A group of MPs allied to the President have called for radical surgery at Jubilee as part of the revamp strategy to position the party as a formidable and viable force ahead of 2022.