Former Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju has said his resignation from the party was purely a personal decision, emphasizing that he harbors no ill will towards the outfit or its leadership.
Speaking during an interview on NTV’s Fixing the Nation on Monday, August 25, Tuju explained that leaving Jubilee allows him to freely express his opinions without being misconstrued as speaking on behalf of the party.
“I left Jubilee so that I am free to air my opinions going forward without it being said I am talking on behalf of someone. It’s essentially stepping into a free space where I can talk without worrying,” Tuju said.
The former Cabinet minister, who tendered his resignation in a letter to party leader and former President Uhuru Kenyatta last week, stressed that no one pushed him out. “This is a personal decision, just like I made a personal decision to join Jubilee when, obviously, the easier route for me coming from Luo Nyanza would have been to join ODM,” he explained.
Tuju noted that aligning with Jubilee in the past was a conscious choice, even though it meant forgoing an easier path to elected office in Siaya or Rarieda. “In the same way, I have made a conscious decision to resign from Jubilee. There are no hard feelings,” he added.
He clarified that he is not seeking any political seat at the moment, insisting that Kenya’s challenges go beyond electoral politics. According to Tuju, the country’s problems are structural and tied to limited resources available at both national and county levels.
“The resources made available to the counties are hardly enough for development; most of it goes to recurrent expenditure. Sometimes it has nothing to do with the individual occupying the office,” he observed.
Tuju’s departure from Jubilee comes at a time when the party, once the dominant force in Kenyan politics, has faced internal wrangles and declining influence following the end of Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidency.
For Tuju, however, the decision marks a new chapter one that gives him the freedom to speak his mind without party affiliations dictating his position.
