President William Ruto is already laying the ground for what he hopes will be another victory in 2027 presidential elections with three decisive moves.
The resignation Moses Wetangula (Ford Kenya) Musalia Mudavadi (Amani National Congress), Alfred Mutua (Maendeleo Chap Chap), Moses Kuria (Chama Cha Kazi) amongst others to take up cabinet slots set the stage for discussions to turn the alliance into a political behemoth.
Recent defections by some Azimio-affiliated politicians and parties is only a tip of the grand plans that will see the outfit turn into a juggernaut.
Instructions on party polls
President Ruto also appears to have learnt from the failures of his former Jubilee party when it comes to party leadership structures and grassroots elections.
To this end, Ruto has instructed United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party to hold its grassroots elections in February next year as part of the grand plans.
The polls will run all the way from the grassroots to the national level, with UDA chairman Johnstone Muthama confirming that “The party leader told me (Muthama) that we need to conduct elections as soon as possible and that means that we will have them at the beginning of the new year”.
Ruto will personally oversee some of the critical operations, a high-ranking party official confirming that the head of state will operate from the party offices, christened Hustler Centre at least once a month.
Sunday Nation quoted the party official confirming that “We are in preparations for grassroots polls next year and the president has indicated that he will be operating from the party offices once every month”.
Expanding influence
Ruto is also keen on building on the party’s achievements in the 2022 elections where it emerged with the highest number of elected leaders.
The party will roll out an aggressive recruitment drive as it seeks to widen its influence across the nation, targeting Coast, Eastern, Nyanza, Western, Nairobi and North Eastern where it was edged out, but still made significant inroads, eating into the turf of its competitors.
