Former aide to Azimio leader Raila Odinga Silas Jakakimba on Friday led UDA members in Homa Bay County in choosing party officials in grassroots elections.
Jakakimba voted at a polling station in Kasgunga ward in the Suba North constituency, leading hundreds of the ruling party’s members in braving rains to cast their ballot.
Jakakimba resigned from the ODM party shortly after the 2022 elections and joined the ruling party late last month.
He has since declared interest in the Suba North parliamentary seat and will likely challenge long-serving area ODM lawmaker Millie Odhiambo.
Jakakimba hailed UDA supporters who came out to take part in the exercise, saying it was a sign that the larger Nyanza region was embracing President William Ruto’s party and that democracy was taking root in the opposition bedrock.
When he joined the UDA party on March 26, Jakakimba said he aimed to team up with “the many Nyanza people who are now increasingly ready to mobilise, popularise and even contest for elections on the UDA platform.”
"Joining UDA confirms my belief that the party is a national party with a national constituency and an even brighter future in the path of grounding and consolidating democratic gains in our years-old quest for good governance in the Joint Republic,” he said.
Having served alongside Odinga for nearly 16 years, Jakakimba pledged to support Ruto.
Before his defection, Jakakimba had also resigned as the legal adviser to Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga in July 2023, just nine months into the position.
Jakakimba jumped ship to the ruling party days before Meru Governor Kawira Mwangaza followed suit and officially joined Ruto's party.
Speaking at UDA headquarters in Nairobi, Mwangaza said she will defend her governor seat on the UDA ticket in 2027.
Mwangaza noted that she was elected Meru woman rep in 2017 as an independent candidate and governor in 2022 also as an independent candidate.
"People have been asking me for direction come 2027. I'm proud to now show Meru people the way, the party is UDA," she said.
Mwangaza added that UDA is accommodating to women and urged others to consider joining it.
