Why Mt Kenya MPs could be plotting to ditch UDA

The lawmakers, most of them elected on UDA tickets, have demanded Hassan Omar’s resignation over remarks they termed tribal and offensive to the Mt Kenya community.

They have threatened to petition Ruto to fire Omar from the powerful party position with some vowing to quit the party if their demands are not met.

MPs John Njuguna Wanjiku (Kiambaa), Alice Ng’ang’a (Thika Town) and Laikipia Woman Representative Jane Kagiri have sustained the calls for Omar's resignation.

Others are Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga, his Kirinyaga counterpart Anne Waiguru, Murang’a Woman Rep Betty Maina, her Nyeri counterpart Rahab Mukami and Ndia MP George Kariuki.

The leaders threatened to escalate the matter to President Ruto if Omar doesn’t resign within 48 hours.

The 48-hour ultimatum expires on Friday.

“We’ll even petition the President himself to make sure that if Omar doesn’t resign, we cannot continue to be members of UDA if he continues to be the secretary general,” Wanjiku said.

“Even members of our own community have resigned because of profiling certain communities, so this must be the decision of UDA.”

Murang’a Woman Rep Betty Maina, another Ruto ally,  backed Wanjiku warning that Mt Kenya leaders could reconsider their future in UDA, if Omar remained in office.

Maina said leaders from the region would rather support the President “from a party where they are respected” if action was not taken.

Gatanga MP Edward Muiru, however, dismissed Ruto's allies calls for resignation arguing that they are using Omar's remarks as 'scapegoat' to decamp from UDA after facing months of hostility from voters.

"They are looking for an escape route, they have realised that UDA is not the language on the ground," Muriu told the Star.

In the recent weeks, some of Ruto's allies in Mt Kenya have been dissociating from the ruling party in what is believed to be pressure from the ground.

Murang'a Governor Irungu Kang’ata and former Kirinyaga Women Rep Purity Ngirici are among high profile leaders who have left the President’s camp.

Although Omar has since issued an apology, the MPs have rejected it, insisting the comments exposed deep-seated contempt against the region within the ruling party.

Political observers now believe the sustained pressure could be more than just outrage over the remarks.

Analysts argue the MPs may be using the controversy as a politically safe launching pad to distance themselves from UDA at a time when hostility against the party continues to grow across the Mt Kenya region.

The development comes amid increasing signs of discomfort among some Mt Kenya leaders over the future of their political alliance with Ruto ahead of the 2027 polls.

According to university don Prof Gitile Naituli, the sustained push are less about Omar and more about political survival in a region where leaders allied to Ruto have recently faced growing hostility from their electorates.

“I think they are just using that (resignation push) as an excuse because the ground shifted long time ago,” Naituli told the Star.

“They are using the demand as an excuse,” Naituli noted.

  “They are just using it (hard stance) as an excuse because their supporters left them a long time ago. They want to reconnect with the supporters and this gives them the opportunity. They want to seize that opportunity and reconnect.”

  Already, Presidential Economic advisor David Ndii has backed Omar, telling him he owes no apology for ‘speaking the truth’.

  “To my friend Omar Hassan. You don’t owe anyone apology for speaking the truth,” Ndii posted on his X account on Wednesday.

Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi argued that MPs demanding the resignation of Omar have realised ‘politics is local’ and are slowly preparing their exit from the ruling party ahead of the 2027 elections.

Speaking to the Star on phone, Mwangangi argued that the lawmakers’ tough-talking was a sign of growing political unease within President William Ruto’s camp.

“The MPs have understood that politics is local and they must reconnect with their people. This signals the displeasure on the ground towards the Kenya Kwanza government,” he said.

However, Central Imenti MP Moses Kirima has dismissed claims of Ruto's 'unpopularity' in Mt Kenya region saying the perception is not accurate.

"Things will be very different from the way it is perceived by a number of critics. Ruto trying to implement the projects which he has given some promises, most of them are going on now and the way President William Ruto is frequenting the area. Our people are purely development-oriented characters," Kirima told the Star in a recent interview.