We’ll control Parliament, Ruto says
Deputy President William Ruto when he addressed residents of Kitui County on July 19, 2022
What you need to know:
- Controlling Parliament, Dr Ruto said, will give him ample time to implement his bottom-up economic approach were he to emerge victorious in August.
- An analysis of a list of General Election candidates gazetted by the IEBC shows DP Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has sponsored more candidates for the five seats than any political party.
Deputy President William Ruto has exuded confidence that he will control both the National Assembly and the Senate after the August General Election.
And he still sees himself clinching the top seat to succeed his estranged boss, President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is backing his rival, Azimio’s Raila Odinga.
Controlling Parliament, Dr Ruto said, will give him ample time to implement his bottom-up economic approach were he to emerge victorious in August.
In an interview with AFP on Monday, the DP said the coming together of President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga is not a threat to his political ambition.
“We are a democratic nation. There are two sides — the government and the opposition. From where I sit now, we will certainly control Parliament,” said DP Ruto.
He dismissed the Uhuru-Odinga alliance, saying it will not stop his path to victory.
“I know there are notions that if you put the current president and current leader of opposition on one side, it becomes unassailable. Nothing could be further from the truth. The people can see through that kind of network and still make informed decisions. I am very confident that I will win this election,” he said.
More sponsored candidates
An analysis of a list of General Election candidates gazetted last weekend by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) shows DP Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has sponsored more candidates for the five seats than any political party.
UDA is fielding National Assembly candidates in 261 out of 290 constituencies countrywide, complemented by addition of candidates fielded by affiliate parties under the Kenya Kwanza Alliance.
Dr Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza allies, Musalia Mudavadi of Amani National Congress (ANC) and Moses Wetang’ula of Ford Kenya, have respectively sponsored 71 and 34 candidates for National Assembly, respectively.
For the 47 Senate seats, UDA has 38 candidates. It also has 43 candidates for county woman representative to the National Assembly.
For Dr Ruto, the strategy is to ensure that even if he is not elected Head of State next month, he will put up robust opposition and have the numbers to push his agenda in Parliament.
UDA secretary-general Veronica Maina disclosed that they are looking at the strength which Jubilee had after the 2017 General Election.
“We are looking at a supermajority in the Senate and National Assembly, just like Jubilee had. We have close to 165 MPs, but with Kenya Kwanza partners on board, the figure will be much higher. We expect to have 65 per cent of members in the National Assembly and the Senate. We want to win the senate race in at least 32 counties. This will ensure we do not encounter a challenge of numbers should our presidential candidate need something done,” said Ms Maina in a past interview.
