Busia: The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) leadership in Busia County insists that the ruling party intends to independently field candidates for all elective seats in the 2027 General Election.
According to Kenya News Agency, party officials have dismissed claims that parties allied to the broad-based government plan to transform the arrangement into a unified political outfit to confront the opposition, while maintaining support for President Dr. William Ruto’s second-term re-election bid.
Speaking in Busia, County UDA Chairperson Maurice Chetambe affirmed the party’s full support for the President’s broad-based government but emphasized that this arrangement should not compromise UDA’s identity or electoral strategies. “We are in support of broad-based government led by our President, but that doesn’t relate to a broad-based party. We don’t have a broad-based party neither do we have broad-based candidates in Busia. As the party, we have aspirants in all positions from the gubernatorial seat to the MCA seat as we all support the President’s second-term re-election,” he stated.
Chetambe further asserted that UDA leaders would not allow elected officials to use the broad-based arrangement as a means to evade accountability. “We are not going to allow leaders who have failed in doing their work to hide under the coat of broad-basedness. Let’s not use ‘broad-based’ to avoid being accountable to those who gave you the position to serve. We are calling for all leaders to ensure they stand by their party,” he emphasized.
The chairman also urged leaders and residents to uphold peace and embrace dialogue in resolving disputes. “We have all tribes in our county that need to live in peace. We are calling for peace and alternative ways of handling the existing challenges. This is not an individual responsibility but a collective one led by the leaders in power to ensure that there is peace in our county and if there are any cases of criminality, they are dealt with appropriately,” Chetambe added.
Busia County UDA Secretary General Stephen Buluma stated that the party has attracted aspirants across all elective positions through its nomination portal. “We have one gubernatorial aspirant, five senatorial aspirants, four women representative aspirants, 41 registered MP aspirants, and 203 MCA aspirants in our UDA portal in Busia County. This is the only county with a full structure of leadership from the polling station to the county level,” he noted, assuring party members that nominations would be conducted fairly and transparently.
County UDA Treasurer Fred Obuche highlighted the party’s focus on strengthening grassroots structures and increasing the number of seats it wins in Busia County. “Every party works to ensure it gets many seats and that’s what we are doing as the party. We are intensifying plans that will ensure we support and stand with our aspirants to ensure our party grows. We are calling for our elected leaders to come and work together with us to strengthen the party,” he said, warning that disciplinary action would be taken against members campaigning for candidates from other political parties.
Busia County UDA Deputy Secretary General Lidya Nambwire called on leaders who have drifted away from the party to return and help fortify the party ahead of the next General Election. “We need to work together and that’s why I am calling all those elected and nominated leaders under UDA to come back to the party so that we can continue to build our party strong and prepare for the coming election,” she urged.
