More than 9,000 aspirants had by Sunday registered to attend President William Ruto’s State House meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has created ‘UDA Aspirants Forum’ and asked those seeking to run on the party ticket in the 2027 General Election to register ahead of the February 4 meeting.
The forum is designed to create a strong grassroots network for President Ruto’s re-election as well as to gauge the outfit’s influence across the country ahead of the 2027 General Election. It is also set to hand the party some quick money from thousands of politicians seeking to run on its ticket.
The forum is part of Dr Ruto’s grassroots re-election machinery as he begins to put together alternative foot soldiers for re-election campaigns should some of the UDA’s current elected leaders defect to other formations.
UDA strategists further indicate that the response in the ongoing registration would also inform the party’s decisions to cede certain areas in a possible zoning agreement with its 2027 coalition partners.
A total of 9,221 had registered by Sunday, according to UDA National Elections Board Chairman Anthony Mwaura.
Mr Mwaura said the party has been forced to end the registration by Monday midnight to avoid being overwhelmed with logistics.
“UDA hereby informs all party members and aspiring candidates that the registration deadline for UDA Aspirants’ Forum is Monday, February 2 at 11.59pm.”
“All duly registered aspirants are invited to attend the UDA Aspirants’ Forum meeting scheduled for Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at 8am at State House, Nairobi.”
President William Ruto during the UDA National Governing Council meeting at State House, Nairobi on January 26, 2026.
Photo credit: PCS
A notice issued by Mr Mwaura on January 21 indicates that those seeking to run for Member of County Assembly (MCA) positions are required to pay Sh2,000 as a registration fee to attend the meeting, while aspirants for Member of National Assembly, Woman Representative and Senator are required to pay Sh5,000 to attend the meeting.
Those seeking to run for governor are required to pay Sh10,000, while those angling to challenge President Ruto for the party ticket have been asked to pay Sh100,000.
“The forum will deliberate and implement the mechanisms to conduct free, fair and transparent nominations of UDA candidates in the forthcoming general elections.”
During the party’s National Governing Council (NGC) meeting at State House, some of the party members demanded that those seeking to run on the party ticket to officially join now instead of waiting to gauge the country’s political wave.
“Just for avoidance of doubt, we want to be sure. Supposing somebody does not show up, does not register, and then they emerge towards next year…and probably these are very strong candidates. Are we going to open a window for these aspirants to register, our word here is final that they register before February 4?” posed Teso South MP Mary Emase.
In his response, the President said the party will not close the window yet, but said it would only work with those who have identified with the party early enough.
He said there are some politicians who joined UDA barely a few days before party nominations and proceeded to win the ticket and subsequently the seats before becoming party rebels.
“We are not closing the forum now, but we want to make sure that those who are willing to be part of this movement, we are giving them a window to come and work with us towards 2027. "Everyone who wants to be an aspirant should come now. Let's build the party together.”
"I am going to meet aspirants next week (February 4) because I don't want people to show up at this party at the end. They come, they have not contributed anything to the party, and then they come and say they want a ticket," President Ruto said.
The party seeks to elect a total of 20 officials at every polling centre spread across the country. According to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), there are a total of 27,397 registration centres in the country.
Cumulatively, the party is looking at having about 540,000 grassroots officials, a number it says is crucial in providing strong grassroots networks.
According to the party’s Grassroots Election Guide, polling centre voters will elect representatives for religious groups (three), traders (four), professionals (three), youth (four), special interest groups (one), farmers (three), and a man and a woman representative.
“A political party is not the NEC (National Executive Committee) or the NGC; it is the grassroots network. The polling station is where the party is made or unmade. We have a total of 540,000 positions for officials at the grassroots.”
“The reason why Kanu succeeded for many years is that people were elected at the grassroots. The reason why ODM today is where it is is that they carry out the elections in the polling centres,” said Dr Ruto.
President William Ruto (second left) Deputy President Kithure Kindiki (left) UDA chairperson Cecily Mbarire and party Secretary- General Omar Hassan during UDA National Governing Council meeting at State House, Nairobi, on January 26, 2026.
Photo credit: DPCS
The party has since instructed its elections board to repeat the grassroots election in nearly 80 per cent of the polling centres. In the recently conducted polls in 20 counties of Mt Kenya, Rift Valley and Western, the party spent Sh120 million, according to the President. He said the party is willing to spend more on the repeat exercise.
“We carried out elections the other day, and many of the senior leaders, including MPs, MCAs, did not even bother to participate. We have instructed the National Elections Board that if any polling centre where less than 50 people voted, we do a repeat.”
Daily Nation established that the President sought to meet UDA elected leaders and aspirants separately before the party could hold the repeat elections in a strategy designed to make them own the grassroots networks.
The repeat is also meant to forestall any possible fallouts. Party elections have, in the past, turned divisive and chaotic, resulting in major fallouts, a scenario that has made many outfits in the country avoid holding party elections.
UDA started its ambitious grassroots elections in April 2024, but was forced to abandon the polls following the June nationwide Gen Z protests after concluding the exercise in only two counties, Busia and Homa Bay, out of the initial five that were scheduled in the first phase.
