The United Democratic Alliance has gained acceptance synonymous with the popularity of the Deputy President William Ruto in the Central region.
With the high acceptance of the party, it is expected that many of the aspirants would scramble for the party nomination.
In 2017, most aspirants battled it out for the nomination of the Jubilee Party which was the most popular in the Mt Kenya region at the time resulting in claims of irregularities.
Majority of the losers pushed on with their aspirations as independent candidates.
But this is not the case with UDA which has attracted a low number of aspirants willing to vie through the party.
In Murang’a, only one aspirant, Senator Irungu Kang’ata, is vying for the governorship position through UDA.
Woman Rep Sabina Chege has announced that she is in Jubilee, while four other candidates have said they are not in a hurry to announce their parties of choice.
The senate seat also has only one aspirant, Joe Nyutu, vying through the party.
UDA has also failed to attract aspirants in the MCA and MP positions, despite the high number of leaders vying for the seats.
An MCA aspirant who sought anonymity said the low number of aspirants joining the party will lessen competition.
“Someone like Kang’ata may not even go through the nominations if nobody else joins in,” the aspirant said.
The aspirant said he had considered joining the party but has changed his mind despite having printed some of his campaign materials.
“The party has told us that we will be registering as aspirants with only Sh1,000 which I think is meant to encourage more people to join,” he said, adding that in 2017, other parties were charging between Sh20,000 and Sh30,000.
Judy Makira, an aspirant vying for Kiharu MP, told the Star that many aspirants are afraid of going against some of the party’s founder members who seem too close to the party’s leadership.
Early last month, the Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu announced that those defeated in party primaries will not have a window to vie as independent candidates.
“That directive means one cannot vie as an independent candidate after failing in nominations as it happened in the past,” she said.
The directive, she said, has prompted aspirants to avoid popular parties that have powerful aspirants and, instead, opt for smaller parties in order to ensure they get to the ballot.
Kang’ata has gone all out campaigning for himself and the UDA party in his bid to succeed Governor Mwangi wa Iria.
“I cannot speak on behalf of others but I have a passion of selling the vision of the party. I want to push the party in my politics because I want people to make an informed decision as to what I stand for,” he said.
“Factors that affect competition in the party are beyond me. I can’t control them because I don’t know who else will want to vie for the governor seat through UDA but so far, it’s only me,” he added.
He however said many aspirants have the perception that there are leaders who are founder members of the party that they cannot compete with.
“The perception of people who have been persecuted because of the party. Somebody like Ndindi Nyoro has been arrested over his support for the party. Such factors cause some people to be afraid,” he said.
Others, he said, may be afraid that the public may reject them for vying against staunch supporters of the party.
Other aspirants are leaders who may have connections with the government, especially those who had been appointed in parastatals or government employees who are afraid that they may be persecuted for joining UDA.
But Edward Muriu, an aspirant vying for the Gatanga MP seat, said the party, that is barely a year old, has registered four million members and is the party to beat in the Central region.
“Even aspirants not in UDA are interested to see how it fairs. Like when Kang’ata said he had been endorsed by Ruto as the governor candidate of his choice in Murang’a, even people who were not in the party came out to fight him,” he added.
Muriu said many are sitting on the fence waiting for the right time to troop into the party. He said, by February, many aspirants who are in other parties will join it.
As a new party, Muriu said UDA has founder members who have sacrificed their resources, time and expertise to get it running.
“Today, you cannot ignore Muriu, whether you like him or not, and the role I have played in the party to build it, the resources I have used,” he added.
In Gatanga, for example, Muriu said he has registered more than 45,000 people as party members using his individual resources.
He said anybody who vies against him in the party will have to work even harder to register more people, saying the ones he has registered are the ones who will nominate him.
“Someone who wants to demean that effort will say that I have already been given the certificate because I am a founder member but politics is about your own initiative and effort,” he added.
Muriu, who is currently the secretary of legal affairs in the party, said they want to build a party that will supersede them by ensuring the nominations are free and fair.
He cited Susan Kihika and Kimani Ngunjiri who are vying for Nakuru governorship, saying they will go to the nominations and the winner will go to the ballot.
Muriu added that the party also wanted Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru and Woman Rep Wangui Ngirici to compete fairly, but the latter has since the left UDA.
The two, he said, should have sat down before nominations and agreed on who between them would step down for the other and focus on popularising the party.
“Even in Gatanga, I am inviting people to come compete against me in the party so I can be a good example of walking the talk,” he said.
“I am the one who will sign nomination papers, I am in the National Executive Council other than being the secretary of legal affairs, but I want to win legitimately,” he added.
The NEC has however put mechanisms in place to ensure the nominations will be free and fair.
He said once the party takes over the government, losers will get opportunities to serve in different capacities, saying they want aspirants to negotiate where possible.
The party also wants its aspirants to foster good relationship with the administration to show that it has no issues with them.
"Chiefs and other assistants should know that their work will not be affected once we take over the government,” he said.
(edited Amol Awuor)
