Jubilee Party is in trouble with the county’s Presiding Officers (POs) and clerks who oversaw the party’s primaries.
The angry, placard waving group led by Felix Korir, took to the streets of Kericho town to protest the party’s bureaucracy and delays in paying them their dues. The party hired at least 200 POs and clerks for the primaries which were conducted in the county on April 25.
“I was the Presiding Officer at Kaptebeswet polling station. The Kericho team oversaw one of the most credible Jubilee Party Primaries the country saw. We are however here today to register our disappointment with the party for the way it has treated us by its failure to release our dues. Worse, there is no proper communication from the party,” said Korir.
He added that POs expected to be paid Sh17,500 while the clerks expected to pocket Sh6, 000 for the two days they rolled up their sleeves to work for the President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto’s led party. Though Kericho is one of the party’s strongholds, it doesn’t have an office in the area.
Korir, warned that if the party will fail to release the money by Thursday morning, they will be left without an option but to withdraw their support from Jubilee in favour of Bomet governor Isaac Ruto’s Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM). “We are not begging for our dues from Jubilee. We did our part and the party must fulfil its end of the bargain. We will not allow Jubilee Party to play with our minds when a party such as Chama Cha Mashinani is knocking at our door soliciting for support for the August General Election,” he said.
A police officer who was one of the officers detailed to man the high stake party primaries, also disclosed that they were yet to be paid their dues. “If it wasn’t for our security services, things would have probably gone haywire for the party.
We are also disappointed that up-to-date we are yet to get anything for our services,” said the officer who requested for anonymity as he is not authorised to talk to the press.
Mrs Fancy Ngeno, who served as a PO as Binyiny polling station argued that the cost of living had gone up and they require the money to buy basic commodities such as flour and Sugar. “There is no reason why Jubilee Party has forced our families to the brink of starvation yet we worked for it. The party leaders should come out and address the issue immediately,” said Mrs Ngeno.
