Communist Party of China shares tips with Kenya's Jubilee Party

The Communist Party of China (CPC) shared party development tips with Kenya's Jubilee Party on Saturday in an effort to realize political stability in the East African country, as well as achieve prosperity and grow the economy.

Professor Hu Jianhua, executive vice-president for the Party School of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region Committee of CPC, said that for any party to develop, it must put in place systems that will ensure its consistency throughout different regimes.

He said that one of the CPC's secrets to success is a commitment to democratic centralism as a decisive factor for the party’s long-running government in the country.

"It's precisely stipulated in our Party constitution that lower-level Party organizations submit to higher-level organizations, the minority submits to the majority, individuals submit to organizations, and the whole Party and members submit to the Party central committee," he said.

He noted that Party members and officials should be committed to the policy of the Party as well as remain disciplined in efforts to realize set goals.

Hu said for any government to realize long-term success, the ruling political party must remain committed to a people-centered philosophy of development. He said that is one of the secrets of the success of the CPC.

"Our commitment to a people-centered approach compels us to deliver tangible benefits for our people. For instance, by 2020 we want to eliminate poverty in China. We are very strict on the poverty alleviation program and all levels must deliver on the same," he said.

Hu noted that for any political party to survive and thrive, it is very important to tighten its member discipline, ensure that officials and members commit toward bettering the party and work toward solving people's needs. This is in addition to increasing the party's ability to coordinate various forces to implement its decisions, he said.

He said he is confident that the Jubilee Party has the potential to grow into a strong party, saying he was thrilled by the government’s big four agenda, which focuses on food security, affordable housing, universal healthcare coverage and manufacturing development.

Li Xuhang, minister counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Kenya, said it's important for Kenya to have political stability in order to attract foreign investment, develop infrastructure as well as grow the economy.

Li said the CPC Party school has played a very critical role in the growth of the Party from a small group of 23 members to a strong Party with 89.5 million members. "For a political party to develop, there is a need to unite minds and then take action, and the CPC was able to achieve that through the Party's school," he said.

Dr Yuan Wei, deputy director and associate professor of the economics department at the Party School of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee, said, it's only through learning from the best that a country will not stagnate.

He said Kenya can learn from China's process in opening-up in order to grow its economy and realize sustainable development.

Raphael Tuju, the secretary-general of Kenya's ruling Jubilee Party, said Kenya is keen to borrow lessons from the CPC not only to develop the party but also grow the economy.

"In 1961, Kenya's GDP per capita was four times higher compared to China's. Today, the GDP per capita in Kenya is $1,450 while in China it is $8,875. China's GDP has gone up more than 50 times, while in Kenya, it has gone up only three times. We should find out the focus that China took in the last 40 years," he said.

Tuju appreciates the fact that the establishment of the CPC's Party school has played a critical role in the country's economic achievements.

"It's obvious across the globe that when the ruling political party is strong and consistent, the country becomes stable. Political competition is conflictual and if it cannot be contained within the party, the party differences flow into the country and in our case, where political parties are ethnic in nature, they result in communities fighting against each other," he said.

Just like the CPC, Tuju said Jubilee is planning to establish an academy in efforts to engage with the Kenyans as well as build its membership based on ideologies, policies and programs, as opposed to the current situation where parties are essentially mobilized on the basis of ethnicity.

"We realized that as the Jubilee Party, we owe it to the future generations to stabilize the politics of this nation and the party. By so doing, we will be able to move this country to the next level," he said.

Tuju said Jubilee will borrow a leaf from the CPC to enhance its fight against corruption in efforts to protect public resources.