President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) will field a candidate in the Ugunja parliamentary by-election, the party has announced.
This promises to be one of the first tests of the broad-based government after ODM leader Raila Odinga agreed to work with the Kenya Kwanza administration entering into a truce with the president.
UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar, while receiving newly elected party leaders from Homa Bay County on Thursday, said the fielding of a candidate in Ugunja is timely and that the party is “consulting” widely before unveiling the right candidate.
“There is a great desire in the spirit of broad-based government that we consider a candidate from the UDA party. This is timely and in good spirit and we support that. We will consult and seek approval from the party leader. We want to ensure that the election exercise is not divisive and that once we have finished these consultations, we will go ahead and announce a candidate for the position,” Mr Omar said.
In such an event, it would be a repeat of the 2022 elections when Dr Ruto and Mr Odinga drummed up support for different candidates only that this time they will be doing it under the umbrella of ‘handshake’ better known as broad-based government.
Mr Omar also said the UDA party has made inroads in the Nyanza region and the establishment of the broad-based government has cemented the relationship between President Ruto and Mr Odinga.
“UDA will partner with other parties to mobilise our support base in the Nyanza region. President Ruto has recently concluded a development tour in the region and he will certainly be back. This is an inclusive government that we are building to unite Kenyans based on issues,” Mr Omar added.
The UDA party official said has already made in-roads in the Nyanza region with the election of officials in Homa Bay County. It has recruited thousands as party members as well.
The officials who visited the party headquarters were led by Mr Odinga’s former aide Silas Jakakimba (Homa Bay county UDA secretary-general), former ODM MCA Kennedy Obuya (UDA Homa Bay Chairperson) and former Nairobi governor Evans Kidero (UDA Delegate).
Mr Jakakimba said UDA supporters in Homa Bay have supported the broad-based government and are willing to go out to ensure that the party has at least 60 percent support from voters.
“We are throwing our support behind our Secretary General and we are urging all those who have not joined us to come so that we can mobilise supporters for the party in Nyanza. Already, the broad-based government is in place and we have offered our support to ensure we have the numbers in 2027,” Mr Jakakimba said.
The announcement by UDA comes at a time when President Ruto while carrying out a visit to the region announced that both leaders are looking at a political pact ahead of the 2027 elections. Dr Ruto is not new to the region having been in the same team with Mr Odinga in the 2007 campaigns. During the visit, President Ruto also told the people “to read the signs” regarding the future.
The by-election polls will also have a ripple effect on the broad-based government as the newly elected UDA officials called upon their ODM counterparts to join them in endorsing a UDA candidate.
“We are welcoming our brothers from ODM. As you have seen Homa Bay County is the only party that has had a peaceful election and that tells you that we are ready. We will now carry out more membership drives and other grassroots engagement activities to solidify our ground. We already have a by-election and it will be a chance to prove the spirit of broad-based,” Mr Obuya, the Chairperson of the Party in Homa Bay County said.
Dr Ruto is keen on exploiting the endorsement of Mr Odinga for the Africa Union Commission (AUC) to endear himself to the region and the fielding of a UDA candidate to replace Opiyo Wandayi who took up the cabinet position is expected to be the first attempt to make inroads into a region that has historically backed Mr Odinga.
But even as Mr Omar spoke, there are reports that the two parties might opt for “consensus” to decide on a joint candidate.
