Barely a week after pulling a mammoth crowd in Bomet County, Chama Cha Mashinani (CCM) party leader, Isaac Ruto, has declared that he will not join the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
In a TV interview on Saturday, January 15, the former governor clarified that while he fully backs Deputy President William Ruto's bid for presidency, he will not fold CCM into UDA.
Ruto noted that his pact with DP Ruto was strictly for the top seat, a fact that the latter was well aware of.
"I take it that he understands that that one is not negotiable and we left it for that, and that was not a precondition for us to support him," Ruto stated.
He added that although he agreed with the second-in-command about tribal parties, Ruto stated that CCM and others were only small parties.
"I do not agree that we do not need small parties, no! We are not saying we are disbanding. We will be turning UDA into a tribal party," the party leader stated.
The CCM leader further expressed concern on whether UDA could conduct credible nationwide nominations, stating that even the Jubilee Party failed to do so.
"How will you conduct the nominations, and who will give out the certificates?" Ruto posed.
The ex-Bomet County boss revealed that CCM was yet to make an election pact with UDA, explaining that the Ruto-affiliated party had a different approach in forming coalitions.
"The UDA team are saying they will enter into post-election pacts, not pre-election pact," he stated.
Isaac Ruto lauded the approach, adding that while a pre-election pact dictated how parties will share government, he preferred to sticking to county governments.
The former NASA co-principal opened up about his split with his fellow principals immediately after the August 2017 general elections.
"I disagreed on the matter of Kenya A and Kenya B. Then we finally agreed to go to court," he stated.
The CCM party leader intimated about receiving a call from President Uhuru Kenyatta, who challenged him to rethink his decision about returning Kenya into what it was after the 2007 polls. Uhuru asked him to weigh out between his ambitions and the well-being of the country.
