Moses Kuria: UDA leaders hire crowd to look popular in Mt Kenya
Gatundu South Member of Parliament (MP) Moses Kuria has called out the Kenya Kwanza alliance for transporting supporters to political rallies.
The alliance which is led by Deputy President William Ruto has been hit by divisions, especially in the Mount Kenya region where party leaders like Kuria and William Kabogo have decried being frustrated by UDA which is the dominant player in the political outfit.
Speaking during an interview on a local TV station, Kuria highlighted the power struggles within the Kenya Kwanza alliance in the battle for Kiambu gubernatorial seat.
The gubernatorial race has pitted three Kenya Kwanza alliance members against each other; Kimani Wamatangi of UDA, Kabogo of Tujibebe Party and Kuria who is vying on Chama Cha Kazi party ticket.
Moses Kuria says UDA ferrying fans
The Gatundu South MP complained that UDA was using buses to transport supporters from one place to the other in order to give the impression that they have supporters everywhere and also to be cheered during rallies.
"I think there is a problem that is happening in Kenya Kwanza which for me I found unfortunate, I vowed never to engage in. Whereby we transport… We are having nine meetings in three constituencies or four constituencies. And then somebody tags along their supporters, their fans… I feel, my position is if I am going for a meeting in Limuru I should go just alone so that I can be able to see whether I got legitimate supporters in Limuru. And that's what I do," Kuria said.
He disclosed that UDA is using tens of buses, lorries and pickups to ferry supporters from one political rally to the next.
"But then my worthy competitors what they do is that have got tens and tens of buses and lorries and pickups and they transport their fans from one place then they release them and then they go to the next and the next so that they are cheered.
"And the problem is first of all one, that distorts what I call in my other language market dynamics because you don't really get to know whether you've got real supporters on the ground. Second thing what does it do to me who is not transporting these people? You know it looks like it's a Kabogo versus Wamatangi thing," he lamented.
