Two days after Deputy President William Ruto declared his affiliation to UDA, the party says it will not be a direct presidential ticket to the 2022 elections for the deputy president .
UDA Sec. Gen. Veronica Maina says that should other aspirants emerge, the DP will have to go through nominations for UDA presidential ticket. s
The DP’s affiliation to UDA was an open secret until he publicly owned up last weekend at a rally in West Pokot county.
Feeling edged out of the Jubilee party, Ruto has declared a new home in UDA ahead of the 2022 General Election.
The UDA party officials say the announcement by DP does not amount to an automatic ticket for UDA presidential flag bearer.
“Don’t be surprised if there are other candidates for the presidential ticket, so the DP will be open to the processes of the party,” the party said on Monday.
Ruto has just made his association with UDA formal as steps towards an alliance of the governing Jubilee & ODM party gained momentum.
The DP considers talk of the Jubilee-Odm alliance as aimed at curtailing his presidential ambitions.
The announcement by the deputy president is likely to stir up debate on political party membership regulations.
UDA has defended the DP’s association with party despite the deputy president being elected on a Jubilee party ticket.
“UDA is in alliance with Jubilee, that alliance still exists, so he was within his right. also the president is associating himself with ODM,” the party said.
The emergence of UDA as deputy president William Ruto’s alternative political card follows more than three years of troubled relations with President Uhuru kKenyatta’s political mainstream.
It has been a long winding path that at one point assumed intra-jubilee factional wars with the DP allies styling themselves as ‘tanga tanga’ while the president’s diehards fired back as ‘kieleweke.’
It is now formal that the president and the DP are no longer sharing party affiliation, with the latter setting sights on all upcoming by-elections.
With deputy president Ruto’s formal affiliation to UDA, the stage is set for a season of political sniping and jabbing as the clock ticks towards the next General Election.
