Uhuru Kenyatta Has Handed Jubilee to Fred Matiang'i

Uhuru Kenyatta, the retired President, handed the leadership of the Jubilee Party to Fred Matiang'i at a meeting with party officials in Nairobi on 22 September 2026. Matiang'i, the former Interior Cabinet Secretary and Jubilee's presidential candidate, took over on an interim basis until the party's National Delegates Convention ratifies the change. Uhuru stays on as a member and senior adviser.

What happened on 22 September

Matiang'i accepted in plain terms. "Your Excellency, with humility, I accept the appointment to oversee the Jubilee Party," The Star quoted him saying. Then: "I never thought in my life that this moment, this day would come today."

He had been one of Jubilee's deputy party leaders. According to The Star, he recalled working with Uhuru through the Westgate and DusitD2 attacks, when he served in the Kenyatta government.

Citizen Digital reported that he asked members to settle disputes inside the party. "As a party, let's sort out our issues internally. Let's not go to court."

People Daily and The Star were among the outlets that described the handover as pending confirmation by Jubilee's National Delegates Convention. No date for that convention had been announced by 23 September.

Why Uhuru stepped aside

A court ruling forced the question. On 14 September 2026 Justice Lawrence Mugambi of the High Court dismissed a petition challenging section 6 of the Presidential Retirement Benefits Act of 2003. The section says a retired president "shall not hold office in any political party for more than six months after ceasing to hold office as president." The judge held that the law restricts leadership roles. Membership and political activity are left alone.

Uhuru's office responded on 15 September. Citizen Digital quoted his statement that the ruling "is not a restriction on his political life" and that "leadership is not the chair one occupies; it is the trust one cultivates." The statement blamed the delay in handing over on "a contested internal dispute that required legal clarity".

A week later, on 21 September, Justice Bahati Mwamuye of the High Court declared the same section 6 unconstitutional in a separate case. The handover went ahead the next day regardless. We set out the two judgments side by side in a separate post.

Who objects

Jeremiah Kioni moved first. Hours after Uhuru's office accepted the ruling on 15 September, Kioni, a Jubilee deputy party leader and former Secretary-General, declared himself a candidate for party leader. "Our leaders are not installed; they are elected by the party delegates," The Star quoted him saying.

Ngunjiri Wambugu (Nyeri Town), a former MP, told The Star on 22 September: "Matiangi was not my preferred party leader as much as he's my preferred presidential candidate. I preferred Kioni." He said he could accept the decision pending the convention.

The Star had also reported on 18 September that some of Uhuru's allies were uneasy about handing Jubilee to someone from outside Mt Kenya. Matiang'i is from Kisii.

A fake quote that came first

A fact-check published on AllAfrica on 21 September found that a quote circulating online, in which Uhuru supposedly named Matiang'i as Jubilee leader, was fabricated. It appeared the day before the real handover, which was announced through the 22 September meeting.

What Jubilee is in 2026

Jubilee was Uhuru's party when he won re-election in 2017. By 2026 it was third in the Political Parties Fund, as we reported in Jubilee's slide and its Matiang'i bet. On Meru radio on 9 September, Matiang'i said Jubilee's pact with Peter Munya's Party of National Unity covered only the presidency and the Meru governor seat.

Whoever leads the party controls its paperwork. The party leader and officials are the people whose names and signatures parties must submit to the IEBC by 15 October 2026, and whose signatures later validate nomination papers, as we explained in the two October deadlines. For a candidate, that means the ballot line. Kenyan parties that lose their founder's backing have a poor survival record, a pattern traced in why Kenyan parties die. Our look at Matiang'i's ward-based campaign covers his organisation on the ground.

What to watch

• A date for Jubilee's National Delegates Convention, and whether Kioni's name goes on the ballot there.
• Whether the Attorney General or Parliament appeals Justice Mwamuye's 21 September judgment, and whether Uhuru's role changes as a result.
• Who Jubilee names to the IEBC as its authorised officials by 15 October.