UDA members ask CS Alice Wahome to keep off nominations for Kandara by-election
A section of members of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party in Kandara constituency has accused immediate former area MP Alice Wahome of interfering with the process to elect her successor.
The members claim, Wahome, who recently took over as Cabinet Secretary for Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, wants to dictate to the people who to elect against their democratic right.
Led by the youth spokesman Laban Thuo, the members on Monday accused the CS of intimidating some candidates and their supporters ahead of the by-election set for January 2023.
Thuo alleged that Wahome has a preferred candidate in the race, who she wants handed the UDA ticket.
"We have information that the staff of the former MP are also being coerced to campaign for this particular candidate which is unacceptable," Thuo lamented.
He said Wahome, who was at the forefront of castigating civil servants in the previous government for engaging in politics, was now doing the same thing.
"We are urging Wahome to desist from engaging in active politics now that she is serving in the Cabinet and she is a civil servant," Thuo added.
The spokesman said the turn of events clearly indicates that the nominations slated for Saturday, November 26, will not be free and fair.
He called on the leadership of the ruling party to dispatch a new team to oversee the nomination process, saying that those on the ground were compromised.
"We also want the party officials in Kandara to resign and we have new ones to take over," he remarked.
Alex Nduati, another member, urged Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and UDA Chairman Johnson Muthama to intervene and restore confidence in the residents.
Nduati noted that during his recent visit to Murang'a, the country's second in command promised to ensure the nomination exercise is credible and free of interference.
"We are demanding for a verifiable and transparent exercise without any interference from outsiders," Nduati said.
Jane Ng'endo echoed Nduati's comments saying the residents will reject any attempt to impose a project on them.
"We are the people to decide who will become our next member of parliament because we are the ones who have the votes," Ng'endo stated.
14 candidates are set to face off in the nominations seeking to secure the party ticket ahead of the by-election scheduled for January 5, 2023.
Last week, Wambui Ng'ang'a ditched the UDA party, citing a lack of transparency in the President William Ruto-led outfit.
Ng'ang'a, who has expressed interest in running as an independent candidate, said she deliberately failed to return her nomination papers at the party's headquarters as required, claiming there was a hidden card to shortchange UDA party aspirants.
UDA ticket
Addressing the media, Ng'ang'a also alleged a plot by Wahome to impose a candidate on the constituents.
"I have information that Wahome wants to control the race and determine who will take over from her and this is unacceptable," Ng'ang'a lamented.
"We are all going to the people seeking their support and thus we should be given an equal platform," she added.
