Ruto finally confesses links with new political outfit
Deputy President William Ruto has for the first time confessed his association with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), saying he was ready to use it as his political vehicle in next year’s presidential election.
Ruto said if his continued stay in Jubilee becomes untenable, he will be compelled to jump ship and launch his presidential bid on a UDA ticket.
“Because, you cannot wait until you hit a wall for you to come up with a solution, just like we came up with URP after being chased away by ODM and teamed with Uhuru Kenyatta’s TNA, going forward, if there is no agreement within the rank and file of Jubilee Party, we will have UDA as our a political vehicle for 2022,” Ruto said during an interview with Radio Citizen.
Fantastic job
“We have built UDA and we have done a fantastic job with Jubilee Party and even drove the government agenda together, we will not claim that we will be starting afresh, never, we will only be continuing the journey.”
Ruto has previously avoided any direct association with UDA but his allies have openly campaigned for its candidates in recent by-elections in Kabuchai, Matungu and Machakos.
Ruto heaped praise on the new outfit, terming it the next big thing in Kenyan politics heading to next year’s election.
Uhuru’s allies in Jubilee have accused Ruto and his associates of violating the Political Parties Act by associating with UDA, as opposed to Jubilee which sponsored them in the last General Election.
Led by Jubilee vice-chairman David Murathe, the pro-Uhuru team has repeatedly challenged the DP and his allies to resign and seek a fresh mandate on UDA’s ticket.
“If you ask me, whether I am in Jubilee or UDA, it is an attempt of trying to divide us, because UDA and Jubilee is one because of the coalition agreement,” Ruto said.
“Already, they have kicked out many of my allies from the (Jubilee) party positions and dethroned them from plum jobs at Parliament.
They only call meetings for destruction, either kick them out of their positions or institute disciplinary proceedings.”
He added: “There has never been a meeting to discuss how to run the party or deliberate on how far we have reached in implementing the party’s manifesto in government or bring Kenyans together.”
The DP said the same way he helped transform Jubilee into a national outfit, he would do the same with UDA using the same strategy.
“Just like we built Jubilee Party to be a national party with a national outlook, we will use the same experience and expertise to build UDA to be a national movement,” he said.
Tribal outfits
He described the “Sacred Alliance” comprising ANC, Wiper party, Ford Kenya and Kanu as a tribal outfit and termed their celebrations following the recent Matungu, Kabuchai and Machakos by-elections as premature.
Ruto said the decision to field candidates in the by-elections was a strategy to market UDA as a national outfit. He termed his competitors in the elections as a bunch of tribal leaders.
“For instance, in Kabuchai constituency, we were competing with Ford Kenya, which is a tribal party with no capacity to field in Matungu, Machakos or Bonchari,” the DP said
