There will be a scramble for UDA come November - Ruto

Deputy President William Ruto has said there will be a huge political shift before the next general elections.

Ruto said that leaders in various political positions seeking to be reelected will be associating themselves with a national party that will unite all Kenyans without any form of discrimination.

The DP said that majority of the elected members in the Jubilee Party are only buying time in the party to avoid being investigated for being allied to him.

Speaking on Tuesday morning during an interview with Radio Jambo at his Karen residence, Ruto said that there are many elected leaders who are willing to dine with him but are afraid of the consequences.

“Even as I speak with you, all the Jubilee leaders, all the governors, and even those leaders holding positions are just waiting for the right time. In November, you will see dust in Kenya. You will be astonished,” Ruto said.

“Many people have been instilled with fear. That if you make a move in this direction, we will launch a case against you we will send DCI officials to your doorstep.”

The DP said that UDA was the only option to move to following the humiliation he suffered with his allies in the second term administration of the ruling party Jubilee.  

He also added that the association between ODM and Jubilee caused disharmony in the ruling party, which he said was meant to fight the MPs allied to him.

Ruto said that the Jubilee party has failed to meet its intended vision of eradicating ethnicity in politics and uniting the country, hence the need to seek a better option.

At the same time, the DP has lauded ODM leader Raila Odinga for accommodating almost all representatives from the country in his party.

“Associating myself with UDA was due to lack of harmony in Jubilee. Violence emerged in Jubilee. The people whom the president entrusted them to run the affairs of the party have disrupted the party…and the party which by far was close to the Jubilee is ODM. And even if I am competing with Raila, I must give him credit for ensuring that ODM becomes a national party.”

Ruto has also said that he will name his running mate when the right time to do so comes, even as speculations continue to build that former Agricultural CS Mwangi Kiunjuri might be his running mate.

The DP has also said that when a party starts chasing and seeking to remove some of its members, that is its end.

"As we speak now, five female MPs are being haunted by the Jubilee seeking to remove them from the party...and when the desire to kick out some members from the party starts, that marks the end of that party."