Deputy President William Ruto’s economic advisor David Ndii is reported to have advised his wife Mwende Gatabaki Ndii against vying on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket in the Kiambu gubernatorial race.
Speaking on TV47 morning program dubbed ‘morning café’ on Friday Mwende said she will be seeking the gubernatorial seat on an independent ticket despite her husband pledging allegiance to the Kenya Kwanza coalition under DP Ruto.
Mwende revealed that it was her husband who is among the authors of the Bottom-up economic model who told her that UDA would not be a suitable vehicle for her political ambition.
“I am going independent because it is not political parties that work but individuals. Mzee (David Ndii) is working for UDA and is the author bottom-up.
“He is the first person who told me when I informed him that I wanted to go for Kiambu’s gubernatorial seat, That bottom-up is not for Kiambu or Nakuru counties because all other counties are trying to get where these two counties are,” Mwende stated.
Strangely, her husband has been at the forefront of championing the bottom-up economic model in the Mt Kenya region.
In fact, more elected leaders from Kiambu County have joined DP Ruto’s party, UDA because recent opinion polls indicate that Kiambu is one of the counties in the Mt Kenya region where UDA is more popular
Mwende is the only woman in Kiambu gubernatorial race competing against, incumbent James Nyoro, former Governor Ferdinand Waititu, Senator Kimatini Wamatangi, and Gatundu MP Moses Kuria among others.
At the same time, Mwende pointed out that she is never afraid of facing men saying voters will elect people on the basis of their manifesto and not gender.
“I am competing with men for Kiambu’s gubernatorial seat because it’s exciting. I am used to being the only woman. I am the only woman in my post-graduate computer science class in the UK, I was the only General Manager in KTDA’s Executive..” Mwende stated.
