Fresh details have emerged on why Murang’a governor Irungu Kang’ata ditched President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
According to the governor, his decision not to seek reelection as governor on the UDA ticket stemmed from a series of reasons, although critics argue otherwise.
After his announcement on Sunday, May 3, some leaders in the government accused him of ditching UDA to join former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua’s Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP).
The governor declined to respond on that issue and, in contrast, stated that the government has done things that made DCP popular.
Kang’ata cited incidents when the DCP brigade has been attacked by goons aligned to the government, stating that the government has been shooting itself in the foot to make DCP and the overall opposition popular.
“DCP is a competitor of UDA. The government has been taking actions whose net effect is to make DCP more popular for example, violence meted out on the people of the opposition. I am not interested in what the opposition is doing, I am more interested in what the government is doing to shoot itself in the foot and therefore strengthening the case for the opposition,” he stated during an interview on Citizen TV.
At the same time, Kang’ata was accused of leaving UDA after he was denied the chance to deputise Ruto in 2024 after Gachagua’s impeachment.
While talking to his social media pages moments after the announcement, Kikuyu MP Kimanui Ichung’wah accused Kang’ata of hypocrisy, stating that his exit from UDA was because he was denied the deputy president position after the impeachment of former DP Rigathi Gachagua.
According to Ichung’wah, the Murang’a governor exerted pressure on him to influence the president to appoint the second in command, something that the majority leader in the National Assembly did not agree with.
“The kind of pressure you were exerting to be named Deputy President. I gave you my piece of mind on your candidature and the politics of hypocrisy that I read in your quest. I am still of the same view today as I shared with you,” Ichungwah claimed.
In response, Kang’ata explained that his decision was not personal but political, stating that for now he did not intend to reveal the full details of his candidature after Gachagua’s impeachment.
“This thing is not personal, and I will not be drawn to personalization of politics, and I know Kimani from where I sit; he remains a good friend. The full details of my supposed candidature to become DP after the impeachment, for now, I do not intend to talk much about. I wish Kimani would call me in private, I will tell him the true story,” Kangata stated during an interview on Sunday night at Citizen TV.
Main Reason For Ditching UDA
While citing a number of reasons like differences in policies, the governor revealed that his main reason to ditch the ruling party was because he felt the party had lost touch with the country, particularly in the Mount Kenya region, where he comes from.
“I have seen how the politics is going on, and I think I am now convinced it will not end well for the UDA party, at least in my region,” he added.
Adding that, “It reaches a stage when you are put into a corner where you have to say something, you are being nudged to make a choice to announce your statement, and if you don’t, people start saying you are not a good person.”
Although he declined to name the party he would be joining, Kang’ata stated that he still remains a member of UDA and would not bow to pressure for him to resign.
He stated that the county government is in collaboration with the national government for some developments in Murang’a, and he will continue to collaborate with the Head of State.
However, in 2027, Kang’ata gave conditions for any party or political formation he would join, stating that the formation must make three priorities in their manifesto that include manufacturing, education, and healthcare.
“Whichever camp I will join, I will have to give them one condition that they will have to give the following three agendas a priority: manufacturing, education, particularly day school education, and thirdly, health care and insurance policy for the poor,” he said. Kenyans.co.ke.