Why anxiety has rocked Kenya Kwanza over merger plans

Partner parties in the Kenya Kwanza alliance are jittery over a grand plan by President William Ruto's UDA party to have all affiliates merge into one political machine.

The newly appointed secretary general of the United Democratic Alliance party Cleophas Malala has revealed that part of his immediate assignment is to draft a merger roadmap.

However, even before the dust settles on the idea, some partners are reportedly jittery over the ambitious plan to cobble up a giant political machine ahead of the 2027 polls.

Affiliates opposed to the idea are quietly resisting the move amid fears it will whittle down the influence of bigwigs in Kenya Kwanza and hand President Ruto massive powers.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula could be the biggest losers if the plan to forge a single party under Kenya Kwanza sails through.

Mudavadi, Wetang’ula and Senate Speaker Amason Kingi are considered the most senior partners in Kenya Kwanza apart from Ruto.

A senior official of an affiliate party told the Star that the idea has not been fronted to the alliance's top leadership and could be a UDA affair.

“No such a decision has been made or even fronted among the party leaders and it is something as a party we will be completely uncomfortable with,” the official told the Star in confidence.

Webuye East MP Martin Wanyonyi, an ally of Wetang’ula, said “Ford Kenya will not fold”.

Kibwezi West MP Mwengi Mutuse denied that MCCP will be folding up.

“Maendeleo Chap Chap is an independent party and I can confidently tell our members that we will not fold. Instead, we shall grow the party to be stronger going forward. This way, we will make a meaningful contribution to our coalition,” he said.

Those opposed to the move cite the grand Jubilee merger in 2016 that saw parties later regret their decisions after retired President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto bitterly fell out.

Ruto would later walk out and build the UDA outfit that vanquished Uhuru's preferred candidate Raila Odinga.

Political analyst and lawyer Erick Komolo admitted the jitters could be as a result of the big guns fearing losing clout and influence.

“It reduces bargaining power at the national level and frustrates political competition at the grassroots. In my view, Mudavadi, Wetang’ula, Mutua and Kingi should totally resist this idea before it's too late because it takes away their bargaining power, and identity and is bad for democracy,” Komolo said.

Komolo warned that the push to wind up affiliate parties could trigger a premature fallout in the Kenya Kwanza alliance despite President Ruto's assertions to create a strong UDA outfit.

“Folding up parties is bad for a maturing democracy like Kenya where people tend to vote along ethnic and regional lines,” said Komolo.

Governance expert Javas Bigambo said that immediately Mudavadi, Wetang’ula and Kingi agreed to join Ruto, that was the first step towards losing their individual parties.

“They will have to be baptised in the water of absolute loyalty and submission,” Bigambo said insisting that even Chap Chap Party leader Alfred Mutua will have to bid for the President.

“From the time they occupy their respective offices, they have to do the President's bidding and constructively help him achieve his goals and agenda. None of them is aggressively repositioning their individual parties,” said Bigambo.

Malala has insisted that they have given themselves around five years to achieve the one-party dream, which has already started meeting resistance in Kenya Kwanza.

“We have to build one strong political outfit that will be written in the books of history to unite the country. We want to be like the African National Congress of South Africa,” said Malala.

“We cannot be forming parties for elections so every election period we have new parties. We have to have one for posterity.”