Nandi County Senator Samson Cherargei on Thursday morning dared Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro and other members of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) supporting former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to resign from the party.
Speaking during a morning panel interview at Citizen TV, the vocal Senator declared that President William Ruto's failure to kick them out debunked all assertions that he was an intolerant man.
According to him, the Wamunyoro supporters were taking advantage of this and preferring to "have their cake and eat it too" by being in the ruling party but supporting the opposition.
He further highlighted an instance where President Ruto had described Kiharu Member of Parliament as the young man he was mentoring, as one of the reasons why he believed the President was an open-minded leader willing to work with even his critics.
"On the issue of de-whipping of committees, you can see UDA was right to de-whip people like Nyutu from the education committee and the rest, because you can see they are no longer loyal to the party. So you cannot have your cake and eat it too. You cannot be opposing a party and want to benefit from it," he stated.
"Party democracy and party loyalty should be absolute. I want to dare them; if they are men and women enough, let them resign from UDA. Seek a fresh mandate from DCP, then we will know they are real men and women. I can tell you they are fearful; they will chicken out."
However, Murang'a Senator Joe Nyutu, also present at the interview, asserted that he was not afraid of being kicked out of the party, as the supporters of Gachagua knew the implications of supporting the ousted former DP.
Nyutu was among several UDA party officials who were kicked out of key committees in a calculated reshuffle in February that saw opposition members replace them.
Among them was Ndindi Nyoro, who has curiously failed to declare his stance, leading to him losing his seat as the chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and being replaced by ODM's Makadara MP, Sam Aladwa.
Nyutu also asserted that President Ruto's intolerance had been demonstrated in his kicking out former cabinet secretaries like Mithika Linturi and, more recently, Justin Muturi.
Gachagua recently unveiled his party, the Democracy for Citizens' Party (DCP), but notably, his UDA allies have not joined it yet, something that Nyutu said was due to a contract made with UDA, expiring in 2027, when he will defend his seat using a DCP ticket.
"I have not joined it formally for now, but this will be my party in 2027, and there is nothing wrong with saying I might associate with this. It's like saying I might marry this girl. I am in UDA for now, but there is no problem in my saying that I will vie with DCP in 2027," he stated.
"Those of us who support Gachagua are not afraid of being kicked out of UDA, and I actually want to tell him to go and to challenge UDA to kick us out and precipitate byelections and see what will happen. Let him not come here and threaten us. We are I'm UDA by right for now, and we will leave at the right time. My contract with UDA is up to 2027."
