Deputy President William Ruto has received the much-needed boost as 42 elected politicians drawn from Nyeri and Nyandarua counties join his camp.
The second in command took to Twitter to announce the defection of the politicians to the United Democratic Alliance( UDA) party from the Jubilee Party which is led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
From Nyeri County, the Speaker of the county assembly together with his deputy, Majority leader, and 25 elected Members of County Assembly (MCA) decamped to UDA.
The move by the Nyeri assembly leaders now means the DP Ruto party is in command of the assembly as the Jubilee party now remains with only five elected MCAs.
From Nyandarua County Assembly, DP Ruto received the deputy speaker, majority leader together with 17 elected MCAs.
The politicians were received by Deputy President William Ruto at his official residence in Karen, Nairobi on Friday, February 18.
The defection by the leaders is a strategic boost to the deputy president’s push to cement his authority in the region as the battle for the over 5,000,0000 votes from the Mt Kenya voting bloc intensifies.
Since Monday, February 14, the deputy president has had an intensive schedule in the region christened the second phase of bottom-up consultative meetings.
Coincidently, President has scheduled a meeting with Mt Kenya elected leaders in Nyeri County, at Sagana State Lodge next week where he is expected to officially unveil his campaigns for Raila in the vote-rich region.
Without a doubt, the fight for the vote-rich bloc has intensified after President Uhuru, publically began advocating for Raila’s presidency.
The political analysts have opined that DP Ruto’s chances of winning the 2022 presidential election lie squarely in his ability to get maximum votes from President Uhuru’s backyard.
“This election will be won or lost on the mountain, first in terms of the turnout. Will Ruto excite sufficient turnout? we leave that to be answered on August 9. The provisional answer will be no.” Herman Manyora said recently.
