North Imenti MP Rahim Dawood has said the decision by Governor Kawira Mwangaza to join UDA was a public relations exercise.
He said the law does not allow party hopping.
“The law does not permit anyone who is elected using another party or an independent to join another party without holding of a by-election,” Dawood said.
He said the decision by Mwangaza does not mean she will get a direct party ticket in 2027 as other candidates might show up and she will have to face them in the party primaries to get the ticket.
Dawood spoke at Meru Hospice, North Imenti constituency, on Saturday where he joined cancer patients who were launching a vertical gardening project that will benefit 50 patients.
Dawood said Mwangaza was not new in party hopping since in 2017 joined Jubilee to contest for Meru Woman Rep at Nkabune and was welcomed by the Deputy President now President William Ruto, former Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi and then Meru Senator Mithika Linturi.
“She went into nominations with Florence Kajuju and she was trounced and she vied as an independent and clinched the seat,” Dawood said.
She said being in UDA will not help Mwangaza recapture her seat. She ought to bring development to the people of Meru if she wants to be reelected.
Dawood, who was elected as an independent candidate, said he had been asked several times to join UDA but remains skeptical although he supports Kenya Kwanza administration.
“We were with the Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua in Laare and he said he does not want a vehicle without numberplate, implying I should join the party,” Dawood said.
For now he is an independent and will make a decision when the right time comes.
Dawood said the national and county governments should have a dialogue to solve the doctors' strike as only poor Kenyans are suffering.
“Those who are well off will go to private hospitals but now private hospitals have rejected the NHIF card, so many people are suffering,” the MP said.
