President William Ruto has rolled out a plan to revamp his UDA party to an enormous political machine ahead of his re-election bid in 2027.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta denounced his then Deputy Ruto for early campaigning but he got an undeniable head start with top strategists.
The ruling outfit has scheduled grassroots elections — the first since its formation in 2022 — to strengthen its structures and enhance its presence across the country.
The grassroots polls, starting right at the polling centres, will be held on December 5, the Star has established.
To fortify its structures, UDA seeks to elect officials from the lowest unit at the polling centres.
“All these plans are to ensure that in 2027, those other people (Azimio) will not even have agents. I don’t think they will have any agent,” UDA secretary general Cleophas Malala said.
The Star established the President and his Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua have resolved to personally take charge of poll preparations after grumbling that some officials were not keen to implement the elections.
“Let there be no illusion that interim officials are permanent. The Party faithful will have the final say at the elections,” Ruto has been quoted as saying.
A strategy meeting agreed the President would visit party headquarters once every month to check on progress while his deputy would visit twice every month.
Insiders indicated that Ruto ordered an audit of party finances – exchequer disbursements and members’ contributions.
“There has to be utmost transparency,” the party boss said.
Ahead of the polls, the party has lined up a series of activities to ensure the success of the polls that have proved a headache for many political parties.
On Friday, the party’s steering committee will meet at the party headquarters as part of the poll preparations.
On September 22, Ruto will host the UDA Women’s Congress at the Bomas of Kenya to inform them about the upcoming polls and persuade them to contest t.
“We are going to have all elected women leaders, all nominated women leaders in wards, the National Assembly and Senate, and women aspirants from the wards to the national level,” Malala sad.
Thereafter, the President will host the Youth League, encouraging new ideas, fresh blood and a bumper harvest of up-and-coming leaders
On September 29, the party will hold national governing council meeting – all elected leaders and party officials – to ratify the preparations for the polls.
Ahead of the polls, Ruto is pushing for the folding-up of other Kenya Kwanza Alliance (KKA) affiliate parties, including Musalia Mudavadi’s ANC and Moses Wetang’ula’s Ford Kenya to join UDA
“We are going to make sure that we build a national party that is going to unite the country, communities, and interests from every corner so we can eliminate the politics of ethnicity in Kenya,” Ruto said in Nyeri last week.
The UDA boss stated that he’s keen to change the politics of parties to revolve around issues that will drive the country into future prosperity.
The party already has started crisscrossing the country, recruiting new members and poaching opposition politicians.
The party has been on a massive membership registration drive shortly after last year’s general election to reposition itself for the next polls.
The President has been on a charm offensive to woo opposition politicians to join his camp and enjoy the fruits of victory in 2027
Several opposition governors and MPs have already declared their support for the President.
On Tuesday, the President, held a long meeting with the party officials at the Hustler Centre in Nairobi where they released the roadmap for the polls.
“We are going to conduct elections from polling centres, from the wards, to the constituency to counties and eventually hold a National Delegates Conference where the President will be endorsed as the party leader,” Malala said after the meeting.
Currently, all the party officials are interim.
On December 5, the party will hold polling centre elections. The winners shall constitute the Electoral College that will participate in ward elections a week later.
In total, Malala disclosed, the party seeks to elect 586,000 officials from the polling centre officials to the party leader.
A technical team has been assembled to clean up the party register.
The party is also procuring technology for the polls.
“We want to elevate our party to the level of parties in other countries such as the ANC of South Africa, the US Democratic and Republican parties. UDA is going to be a very big party,” the secretary-general Malala said.
“UDA is going to live beyond the current leadership,” he said.
The party also both loudly and subtly seeks to swallow its peers in the Kenya Kwanza Coalition, similar to the Jubilee Party that subsumed 13 smaller parties that collapsed to join it.
Malala has sustained the call to other KK parties to collapse and join UDA.
“We have parties in the Kenya Kwanza coalition that cannot produce the president. We shall be lying that parties like ANC or Ford Kenya can produce the Kenyan president,” Malala said last week.
“We are not forcing anyone to fold their parties. We respect democracy. The other parties can exist, but we are saying for strategic purposes, if you want to belong to the future politically, come join UDA,” he said last week.
Last week, the President himself told the parties to fold up and join Jubilee.
“The only thing that can sustain the continuity of a government is a strong party. That is why we are asking all Kenyans to join the national party which is UDA,” Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro said.
However, the call has triggered disquiet in the ruling coalition with some outfits outright rejecting the push.
“We know Malala is not the secretary general of the Kenya Kwanza Alliance. He should focus on strengthening the UDA Party, where he holds the position of secretary general,” Ford Kenya secretary general John Chikati said.
“He should refrain from interfering with the affiliate parties within the coalition that are working towards strengthening the alliance,” he said.
Chikati said Ford Kenya, being the second oldest democratic party in Kenya after Kanu, holds a significant place in the nation’s history.
“We cannot even contemplate the idea of dissolving Ford Kenya. It is our pride and heritage. Our commitment is to revamp it and pass it on to future generations.”
“We won't be swayed by individuals like Malala who fail to appreciate our history. We have been resilient since 1992, and we will persevere,” he affirmed.
