UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar during a recent meeting./HANDOUT
The exit of Aisha Jumwa, one of most formidable political mobilisers, has unsettled the UDA’s Kilifi political matrix and triggered fresh recalculations inside the ruling party.
Jumwa’s shift to Amason Kingi’s Pamoja African Alliance (PAA), a party still aligned with President William Ruto at the national level, has opened a vacuum within UDA’s Kilifi operations, forcing the ruling party to rethink its 2027 strategy.
It is this space that former Kilifi County Assembly Speaker Jimmy Kahindi is increasingly being positioned to occupy.
Speaking at ACK Holy Trinity in Kericho during a grassroots sensitisation exercise ahead of UDA’s elections in 20 counties, UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar hinted that Kahindi had emerged as the strongest option to replace Jumwa as the party’s Kilifi governor contender.
“He (Jimmy Kahindi) was Speaker for Kilifi County Assembly for ten years, and now that Aisha (Jumwa) has defected to PAA, I believe we can field him as our governor candidate for Kilifi County,” Omar said.
Kahindi, a long-time political operator in Kilifi, led President William Ruto’s 2022 campaigns in the county after missing out on the ODM ticket, which went to Gideon Mung’aro.
Mung’aro later clinched the governorship, reshaping local power balances.
Kahindi also sits on the UDA National Elections Board, giving him influence within the party’s nomination and election machinery.
Jumwa’s defection to PAA introduces new dynamics.
Her move strengthens Kingi’s influence in Kilifi , yet Kingi remains a key Ruto ally, raising questions about whether Kenya Kwanza parties will compete openly in 2027 or quietly negotiate positions.
The possibility of PAA and UDA backing different candidates in the same county complicates the broader Kenya Kwanza calculus.
UDA’s recent cooperation with ODM in the Magarini by-election further blurred political lines.
The decision to support ODM’s Harry Kombe over UDA-leaning Stanley Kenga unsettled parts of the UDA base and sparked zoning fears.
Kenga eventually decamped to the Democratic Congress Party (DCP), exposing internal frustration over perceived tactical compromises.
Omar’s latest comments appear aimed at calming those concerns.
“We will field candidates everywhere as a party,” he said, signalling UDA’s intention to stamp its presence in Kilifi despite emerging coalition tensions.
Should Kahindi secure the ticket, he joins a field expected to include Governor Mung’aro, Jumwa under PAA, and lawyer George Kithi.
The result is a potentially fierce and unpredictable Kilifi contest shaped by shifting loyalties between UDA, PAA, and ODM, and by the delicate balancing act within Kenya Kwanza’s political house.
