A herculean task to stem fallouts and ensure the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party remains intact after the just concluded nominations await Deputy President William Ruto.
Ruto has to strike a balance on how to soothe the nerves of the aggrieved parties while at the same time giving support to the winners of the primaries.
However, Ruto made it clear on Thursday night, April 14, that he is not worried by the casualties of the nominations, arguing that they will have to accept the outcomes of the primaries at one juncture or another.
The DP in his address to the press, noted that the party's National Elections Board (NEB) had delivered one of the most credible nominations in the history of the country.
Anthony Mwaura, the NEB chairman, confided in the DP that a number of top UDA politicians were irked by the process whose results are yet to be announced.
“Mwaura told me that he made so many enemies over the course of the nominations process, but I tend to believe if it is for the good of the party then we are fine with that.
“I think many members of our UDA party will join hands and appreciate the NEB’s input and its role in the exercise,” Ruto stated.
He lauded Mwaura and his team for conducting the primaries with minimum supervision, adding that they will document the whole process and table it before the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) for benchmarking.
“This exercise has gone on smoothly and we have successfully delivered a nomination exercise that is actually a near General Election.
“We have delivered almost 60 per cent of what the IEBC does with 1 per cent of the commission’s budget. We will be happy to share this experience with them,” Ruto trolled the Wafula Chebukati-led Commission.
Nonetheless, he acknowledged the shortcomings that arose from the exercise, including violence meted out on some aspirants, transportation hitches and delays in kickstarting the process in certain constituencies.
Areas earmarked for fresh primaries include Bomet and Embu counties and Starehe and Kamukunji constituencies. The DP noted that over 200 polling stations grappled with one challenge or another.
“There are areas that were postponed, NEB chairman has already informed the media and they decided that primaries will be conducted on Tuesday.
"At the Dispute Resolution Committee, we have set up structures so that any member of our party who feels that they have issues to raise, the committee will take decisive actions,” he added, noting that the committee will listen to complaints throughout the Easter festivity.
UDA detailed that over 5,000 aspirants targetting 888 positions participated in the party primaries across 16,513 polling stations in 36 counties. The party employed 49,811 election staff.
