Deputy President Kithure Kindiki on Friday dismissed some political parties in the country as ‘visionless with no leaders’, saying only the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has proper grassroots presence.
Addressing more than 10,000 Tharaka Nithi leaders who were recently elected at the polling station level at his Irunduni home, Prof Kindiki said some parties that were fronting themselves to contest the 2027 elections did not even have elected leaders.
He dismissed Rigathi Gachagua’ s Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP), saying the outfit did not have any grassroots presence, while its leaders were not elected by anyone.
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“They are stamping their chests and making a lot of noise and even purporting to have a secretary general. Who elected these leaders, yet they don’t even have registered members at the grassroots?” Prof Kindiki said.
“They boast about how powerful they are and the influence they have at the grassroots, but ask them at the grassroots what numbers they have and who their leaders are, elected by their party members, and there is nothing,” the DP added.
The DP also hit out at Mr Gachagua over his “Kasongo” and “Soprano” reference to President Ruto and himself, respectively, saying he would not be drawn to name-calling.
He said what Kenyans are interested in was what an individual can do to serve the nation for progress, and not how they were created by God.
“You give someone a nickname; they call the President “Kasongo” and call me “Soprano.” So, you are a foolish grown-up if you think calling someone a nickname is a big deal. That is children’s play—the kind of thing we did in school,” he said.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki met 15,000 grassroots UDA Officials from all parts of Tharaka Nithi County at his Irunduni residence to congratulate them on their election and to commission them to defend the party and the Government at the onset of the election year.
Photo credit: DPCS
He went on: “There are grown-ups who are still childish, talking about childish things, yet they cannot tell you what they can do for our Republic to move forward, how they will improve access to roads, or make our schools better. Their work is to call people nicknames…we left those things behind in primary school.”
Prof Kindiki, who is the UDA deputy party leader, said the party elections for other posts at the ward and county level would be conducted soon, which will culminate in the National Delegates Convention to endorse national leaders.
“We also have our affiliate parties and we are working together. President Ruto has also brought on board the ODM party in a coalition that seeks to unite the country because we want to unite all Kenyans,” he said.
“President Ruto, because he wants to unite Kenya so that we have a Kenya where every region and its leading political party have more strength and power and have their followers, brought on board ODM, and we welcome them,” he added.
The DP also enumerated various development projects the Kenya Kwanza administration had delivered, saying soon a document detailing progress of all projects would be published and which the leaders would make reference to disseminate information to Kenyans.
He also commissioned the leaders to be the frontline champions of President William Ruto's re-election bid next year and tasked them to defend the government agenda.
“We will avail a summary of our manifesto to all the grassroots leaders, including the agreed agenda, the things we have accomplished and what is ongoing, so that you have the information when you are defending our government and our party,” he said.
Prof Kindiki was accompanied by local leaders, including area MP Mr Gitonga Murugara, who has declared he will contest the Tharka Nithi governor seat in next year’s elections.
Mr Murugara told residents that they should be the ones to market the UDA government, especially at the grassroots level.
“We can all see what President William Ruto has done for Kenyans. Let us be the ones to correct misinformation that this administration has not done enough for Kenyans. We should be truthful and tell our people that a lot of work has been done,” he said.
Mr Murugara weighed in on the deputy President position debate, saying Prof Kindiki would be Dr Ruto’s running mate in the 2027 election.
The ODM party has maintained that as they enter into a pre-election pact with the UDA, they will go for no less than the DP position, and 50 per cent of government positions. However, Mr Murugara said Prof Kindiki was there to stay.
“The deputy President is Kithure Kindiki and he will be Dr Ruto’s running mate next year and that is our position. After 2032, we will criss-cross the country campaigning for Kindiki to take over as Kenya's sixth President,” he said.
