Raphael Tuju: I Couldn’t survive supporting Kibaki in Luo land
Former Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju has revealed that the biggest challenge Kenyans have is ethnic mobilization in the political space, which holds back the country from choosing great leadership.
The former Jubilee Secretary General made his remarks on Monday, August 25, 2025, during an interview with a local media house while revealing that ethnic mobilisation held him back from performing in past role as a Member of Parliament.
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“The biggest challenge we have is ethnic mobilization in our politics,” Tuju said.
On his part, Tuju recalled his moments in politics during former President Mwai Kibaki’s regime, noting that he could not survive serving Rarieda Constituency as a Member of Parliament since he was supporting Mwai Kibaki, who was then from a different ethnic group.
“I could not survive as a Member of Parliament for Rarieda Constituency because of the ethnic mobilization at that time. I dared to support former President Mwai Kibaki, who was a Kikuyu, and I happened to be Luo,” Tuju said.
Likewise, he added that at the time, his ideas of having the country move forward would not function because of the ethnic mobilization that took place during the political process.
“So whatever ideas I had on where the country should go, how things should go as such, could not work because of the ethnic mobilization that took place in our political process,” Tuju said.
Tuju’s resignation letter
The Former Jubilee Secretary General Raphael remarks follow his recent resignation from the former ruling Party while adressing ethnic concerns.
In a letter addressed to former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who remains the Jubilee party leader, Tuju said that while he looks forward to work with him in future, as things stand, he does not see how he adds value to the party.
In a section of his letter, Tuju described his appointment as a bold political step because he came from the Luo community while the party was anchored in the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities.
He said the aim was to build a national party beyond ethnic divisions.
He recalled that both he and Kenyatta had faced political rejection in the past for not being considered loyal enough to their ethnic bases.
Tuju said the 2018 handshake between Kenyatta and Raila Odinga caused friction within Jubilee and strained his relationship with William Ruto, despite efforts to resolve the differences.
Tuju praised Kenyatta’s decision to pursue peace through the handshake, saying it helped prevent instability.
