Tuju Breaks Silence on Leaked Uhuru Letter

Speaking to journalists on the phone on Tuesday, January 5, 2020, Tuju denied receiving the letter said to have been authored by Senate Majority Whip Irungu Kang’ata, outlining the challenges the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) was facing in the Mt Kenya region. 

This is despite the fact that the letter was addressed to President Uhuru Kenyatta through the Jubilee Secretary General. 

Tuju criticised the senator for failing to share his views with the party officials first before writing to President Kenyatta.

“Whereas I may disagree with the public avenue he took, it is normal that in the leadership of the party, whenever we have meetings, we have different opinions being presented on the table,†the party boss explained.

“We are not always agreeing on everything, and that’s normal because we cannot reach unanimity in each and every subject matter,†he added.

Tuju, who has been Kenyatta’s strongman in the Jubilee Party, explained that internal disagreements should not play out in public. 

“Once a decision has been made that this is the direction we are taking, then within the principle of collective responsibility, ordinarily we should not disagree in the public domain, but take the party line,†he offered. 

Kang’ata, in his response to the political storm caused by the document, blamed party officials for leaking its contents. 

He regretted not having addressed the Head of State directly and apologized for the mistake.

“Kindly though the letter dated 30th December is authentic, I didn’t give it to the media. Someone else who had been copied did.

“I apologise for that. With the benefit of hindsight, I  should have copied no one else. Trust substantive issues raised in the letter will be remedied,†he wrote in a tweet.

Murang’a County Senator Irungu Kang’ata pictured in the signature collection exercise on November 29, 2020.