President William Ruto’s ally and ex-Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri has announced his exit from the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
Ngunjiri stated he would no longer vie for any elective seat on the party’s ticket arguing there was no appreciation within its ranks.
“I want to say in this media and everybody in Kenya to hear me, I am not in UDA. I will never wear yellow anymore,” Ngunjiri said during a radio interview Wednesday morning.
The former legislator, however, insisted that he will continue supporting the head of state.
“For the UDA, don’t talk about it because I am not part and parcel of it. I will support the president and I will go on either independent or other party but not UDA…that is a big problem that is ahead of us,” he said.
He pointed out discrepancies in the allocation of positions within the party, questioning his exclusion despite his unwavering dedication to UDA.
Without levelling accusations at anyone, Ngunjiri lamented that those who did not actively support the party in the last election have been rewarded with state jobs while loyalists like himself have been left jobless
“Somebody like me, they are giving people positions, where am I? I was almost dying fighting for the UDA,” he said.
Ngunjiri is among the 50 Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs) appointed by Ruto in March last year.
He was to be the Lands CAS.
"I feel honoured to serve under this government," he said after being sworn in.
A litany of court cases filed by various individuals challenging the constitutionality of CAS posts has however prevented them from assuming offices.
Ruto has since handed other jobs to some of the appointees.
Among them are former Kisii deputy governor Joash Maangi who has been posted as Kenya’s ambassador to Kampala, Uganda.
Maangi had been tipped to serve as CAS in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Former West Mugirango MP Vincent Kemosi has also been picked as Kenya's ambassador to Accra, Ghana while ex-Kisumu Senator Fred Outa was appointed ambassador to Cairo, Egypt.
