The Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) Deputy Party Leader, Cleophas Malala, has revealed that the much-anticipated party launch will be held immediately after the party leader, Rigathi Gachagua, returns from his trip to the United States.
Speaking to Standard Digital on Thursday, July 17, the former Kakamega Senator said that the party launch would be held in about three months.
“We were waiting for the political temperatures to calm down, but immediately our party leader comes back from the US, DCP will be finally launched. Within three months, we will have launched our party,” Malala said.
However, Malala failed to reveal the venue or the tentative date, claiming that further details on the launch would be unveiled soon.
In a subsequent press briefing, Malala and other DCP officials confirmed that the party would be fielding candidates in the upcoming by-elections across the country.
This comes weeks after its highly anticipated launch on June 3 was postponed after the party was denied access to Kasarani Stadium, where it had planned to hold its national launch.
Gachagua is currently on a two-month trip to the US, where he is on a mission to popularise the party through city hall meetings across several states. The trip is expected to end in August.
Malala further explained that he had been left out of the US trip so that he could hold the fort back in the country to ensure party activities continued to run smoothly.
Since announcing the party on May 15, DCP has faced a series of unfortunate events regarding its launch, which Gachagua had announced would be open to all Kenyans.
Originally, it had been slated for June 3 at Kasarani Stadium, but the party’s Nairobi Patron, Irungu Nyakera, announced its cancellation just a day before the launch.
"The DCP party launch that was to be held on Thika Road has been called off, awaiting a new venue and date," Nyakera stated on June 2.
While speaking during an engagement with the Maa community on June 23, Gachagua claimed that he would be launching the party on July 7 in Maa land if they were to provide a private space, citing the likelihood of goons being sent to disrupt the event.
“I wanted to have the party launch in Nairobi, but they declined," Gachagua said. “I want to ask you, if you will allow, to allow the event to take place in Maa land.”
The party’s deputy leader confirmed this assertion during a TV interview, but it would not come to pass, as the day coincided with the eventful Saba Saba protests that left at least 38 dead.
This came just days after posters circulated online claiming that the party would be launching during the June 25 commemorative protests. The party later dismissed the claims as fake.
