Mandera Governor Ali Roba acquired the United Democratic Movement Party (UDM) a party that was once led by Deputy President William Ruto.
On October 31, the party had scheduled a fundraiser event that took place at a high-end hotel in Nairobi.
The event which was hosted by Roba had invited guests among which Senior Counsel Ahmednasir Abdullahi was the Guest of Honour.
During the fundraiser on Sunday afternoon, the party was able to raise a total of Ksh34,800,000 with Ksh9.44 million raised by the party committee.
“UDM is the party for the future. I am proud of the steps we have made so far. We are not fielding any candidate but once we have set up the foundation right, we will listen to those who have expressed their intentions to vie for the presidency.
“UDM is under new management and we are revamping the party in order to champion the issues of Northern Kenya. It's extremely important for the people in the region to have a political outfit that looks out for the people of Northern Kenya,” Roba stated.
The fundraiser was graced by various political leaders including Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui, Marsabit Governor Ali Muhamud, among other leaders.
Ahmednasir noted that through UDM, the pastoralist communities would have a place to discuss their issues.
"We can now discuss our own issues through UDM. You have broken the shackles of political slavery by forming this party. People do not allow minorities to have their own parties, they want to dominate them," the Senior Counsel remarked.
The lawyer was keen to state that there were no regional and national parties in Kenya and if UDM’s vision was to be realized, then it would be a first as Jubilee and ODM were more of private properties.
Governor Kinyanjui also congratulated the party leadership for the steps they have taken to revive the party.
"There are unique issues in specific regions that can be solved by leaders in those regions and that's why I'm very happy to support UDM in this journey. I congratulate Governor Roba and all the other leaders in Northern Kenya for this initiative" Lee stated.
