Former Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi/FILE
Former Agriculture CS Mithika Linturi has formally resigned from the United Democratic Alliance (UDA), citing a deep disillusionment with the party’s failure to uphold its founding principles and values.
In a strongly worded letter addressed to UDA Secretary General and copied to the party’s Chairperson, the Registrar of Political Parties, and various media outlets, Linturi announced his departure, accusing the ruling party of abandoning its ideological foundation and losing moral authority to lead.
"Political parties are established under firm philosophies that bind voluntary members. Such ideals are meant to be lived and practiced,” Linturi wrote.
“It was the philosophy of UDA and its commitment to the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) that I believed in and championed.”
However, he accused UDA of straying far from its mission, saying it has failed to honour its mandate and uphold the values it once espoused.
“Such a party has no moral authority to bear the name of a political party. This is a party akin to the Biblical Tower of Babel,” he stated.
Linturi's resignation comes nearly a year after he was dismissed by President William Ruto from the Cabinet alongside 10 others on July 11, 2024, in a dramatic reshuffle that dissolved the entire Cabinet.
In his resignation letter, Linturi delivered a stinging rebuke of UDA’s record in government, accusing it of presiding over rampant corruption, failing to uphold the rule of law, and abandoning the plight of ordinary Kenyans.
“I do not wish, nor would I ever wish, that any Kenyan would belong to a party that is repugnant to its philosophy,” he said.
He has previously lamented his decision to join the Kenya Kwanza administration without a formal agreement.
“I made a mistake in agreeing to work with Ruto’s UDA without signing a memorandum of understanding,” he noted in September 2, 2024.
The UDA party has yet to issue an official response to
Linturi’s resignation.
