NAIROBI, Kenya – Former Trade Cabinet Secretary and senior adviser to President William Ruto, Moses Kuria, has publicly thrown his weight behind retired President Uhuru Kenyatta, hailing his renewed engagement in politics and his leadership of the Jubilee Party.
In a statement on Sunday, Kuria said Uhuru was well within his rights to guide the party and to comment on the state of the nation, despite having largely kept a low profile since leaving office in 2022.
“Uhuru Kenyatta has every right to express his views about everything and anything. Uhuru Kenyatta has every right to promote Jubilee Party as the Party Leader. I stand with Uhuru Kenyatta,” said Kuria.
Uhuru Kenyatta has every right to express his views about everything and anything. Uhuru Kenyatta has every right to promote Jubilee Party as the Party Leader. I stand with Uhuru Kenyatta
His remarks come days after Uhuru’s fiery address at the Jubilee Party’s National Delegates Conference (NDC), where the former Head of State signaled a political revival and pledged to reconnect with the grassroots.
Uhuru announced plans to embark on a nationwide “meet the people” tour aimed at revamping the party’s structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He told delegates the tour would be a platform to engage communities directly and rebuild support at the local level.
“I will now dedicate myself because we said we want to start a recruitment drive and begin traveling to the grassroots. In every area, let us meet with you and talk together,” he said.
The retired president also took aim at government policy shifts, lamenting what he termed the erosion of programmes initiated during his tenure, including the free maternity scheme Linda Mama.
He described some of the Kenya Kwanza administration’s initiatives as “untested experiments” that were hurting ordinary citizens.
“Today, many of the gains we had in the past have been eroded. Linda Mama and others were replaced by new, untried, untested schemes. And while we wait for these experiments to work, Kenyans suffer and our progress is retarded,” Uhuru said.
The former president further questioned the direction of national leadership, urging a return to inclusive and vision-driven politics.
He stressed that Jubilee’s mission remained unifying all Kenyans beyond ethnic or regional boundaries.
“Even when we were in the presidency, all the work we did was for everyone, and we did not leave any communities out of the developments. That is the way of improving the lives of Kenyans. This issue of saying this party is for this community—let’s have a party that brings everyone together because of the vision,” he told delegates.
