UDA maps out Murang'a, targets 90% seats and votes

United Democratic Alliance plans to ensure the party wins all the elective positions in Murang’a county.

The party leadership on Tuesday held a strategising committee with all its aspirants in a bid to ensure it solidifies its support in the county.

This goes against a spirited campaign by aspirants vying through other parties for residents to vote for leaders based on their vision and development agenda.

But Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said voting in leaders through the party will make it easy for the UDA government to conduct its operations.

Ndindi said it is important for aspirants who lost in the nominations to continue supporting the party in order to ensure its aspirants sail through.

“If we have aspirants who lost vying independently, it will split our votes and cost us seats for our aspirants and our president,” he said.

Ndindi sought to assure aspirants that their loyalty will be rewarded, saying the ‘hustler’ movement will require loyal workers to be efficient.

The party, he said, will only nominate candidates in the county, national assemblies and Senate who have been loyal, unlike in the past where there have been complaints that politicians nominate their relatives and friends.

The MP, who is defending his seat for the second team, expressed confidence the county is a UDA zone and that majority of the voters will cast their votes for the outfit.

He said this has been confirmed by the fact that aspirants vying through other parties refuse to campaign for their presidential aspirants and prefer to focus on their individual campaigns.

“I have not heard anyone campaigning for Raila in Murang’a. I think some presidential candidates will be shocked in August because they will get lesser votes than their aspirants in the county,” he said.

Nyoro further said the party is aiming to get 95 per cent of all votes.

Maragua MP Mary Waithera on her part said most leaders in elective positions have had to vie for their positions several times, emphasising on the need to band together.

“In 2013, I was vying for woman representative seat and we agreed with Sabina Chege that whoever would lose would support the other. I lost and supported her and luckily, I was nominated as MCA,” she said.

Waithera also underscored the need for the party to ensure it campaigns more for its aspirants without focusing too much on the Kenya Kwanza Alliance politics.

Parties under the alliance have fielded aspirants that Waithera said will rival UDA aspirants.

She also appealed to the party leader William Ruto to ensure he does not spend too much time on the alliance when he visits the county to enable UDA to campaign for its aspirants.

Waithera also underscored the need for team work among members, saying the narrative that residents will vote for individuals without considering their parties will not work.

“Why did they choose other parties and not UDA? Why are they putting their presidential candidates on their posters?” she said.

Kandara MP Alice Wahome who is also defending her seat said those awarded UDA tickets in the Mt Kenya region have a head start against rivals due to the party’s popularity in the region.

“It is unfortunate that many of the aspirants who went through the nominations are vying independently but we will continue to reach out to them,” she said.

She also said as one of the key mobilisers of the party in the county, they will ensure they deliver all the 35 MCA seats, the women representative, senator and governor seats.

Wahome said even though low numbers turned out during nominations, its only UDA that exercised democracy and allowed aspirants to square it out fairly.

Jubilee, she said, is in panic and has resorted to forcing aspirants with questionable records into vying through it but that the aspirants have refused to sell the party.

Wahome, a top contender of Ruto’s running mate position, said she is confident the party will source the deputy president from the Mt Kenya region.

Senator Irungu Kang’ata, who is vying for the governor seat, told aspirants that he will incorporate other leaders while drawing the list of nominees.

“The list should be submitted early June and I can assure you that no one will be unfairly nominated,” he said.

He further said other parties chose to hand out tickets, singling out ODM which he said favoured relatives and friends of party officials.

“If ODM leader Raila Odinga engages in nepotism while he is yet to be elected, is this not an indicator that that is the same thing he will do in his government?” Kang'ata said.

“In UDA, even Ruto’s friends were subjected to nominations and some lost.”

He urged residents to vote for a 'six-piece suit' to help build the party.

Johnson Mukuha, who is heading the presidential campaigns for the party in the county, said aspirants’ views will be considered, saying the party’s objective is to ensure it clinches majority of the seats.

Mukuha vied for Kangema MP seat but lost to his rival Peter Kihungi before his name was fronted for the position.

(edited by Amol Awuor)