President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has once again excluded Mt Kenya from its grassroots election schedule, sparking speculation about the party’s waning influence in the region following Ruto’s fallout with former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
The party announced the second phase of its grassroots elections set for April 11 and 12 across 22 counties but omitted Gachagua’s political stronghold. This comes despite an earlier plan to include nine Mt Kenya counties in last year’s schedule. Gachagua recently hinted at launching a new political outfit for the region in May.
The elections will take place in counties such as Kitui, Machakos, Kisii, Bungoma, and Mombasa, among others. UDA, formed in 2021, is conducting grassroots polls for the first time, electing officials from the ward to the national level. The exercise aims to strengthen party structures ahead of the 2027 elections, though concerns over regional exclusion persist.
