United Democratic Alliance (UDA) will hold party elections in December 2023 to realign the national outfit ahead of the 2027 polls.
Speaking on Saturday, September 9 in Nyeri after launching the regional office, President William Ruto announced that the elections will start at the grassroots level.
The Head of State assured the party members that they would have a say in determining the next leaders in UDA in a fair and transparent manner.
“Any leader aspiring to hold any party position must start socializing with the members since no one will be given the seat on a silver platter,” Ruto stated.
He further elaborated the elections will establish UDA into a national outfit eliminating tribalism from its ranks.
“Members will vote for every office in our constitution in a strategy that seeks to unite community and interests in every corner of the country,” he insisted.
UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala on his side noted that the exercise is geared towards making UDA the biggest political party in Kenya.
While ruling out the possibility of entering into a pre-election coalition agreement with other parties in 2027, Malala maintained that out of the 14 political parties that formed a pact with UDA, seven had dissolved to join the ruling party and asked others to follow suit.
“We want one big united party in Kenya and that is why we urge other parties to fold and join us,” Malala insisted.
Malala continued with his push of merging some political parties to join UDA despite receiving some resistance, The decision to force a merger is likely to lead to internal wrangles within the Kenya Kwanza coalition with partners like Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi’s Amani National Congress (ANC) and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ulas Ford Kenya staying put in a bid to secure their say in the coalition.
However, the UDA party elections would set a precedent if they turn out successful as it would be the first political party to conduct internal elections since the implementation of the Political Parties Act 2011.
In 2014, the Orange Democratic Party (ODM) was close to holding successful party polls but ‘men in black’ stormed the venue and disrupted the elections.
The Jubilee Party also failed to hold the elections in 2016 as it was marred with violence and infighting.
