President William Ruto's strategy to merge affiliate Kenya Kwanza parties with the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party was met with resistance as some allies objected to the move.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, March 3, Democratic Party secretary general, Jacob Haji, maintained that they would not bow to pressure to join UDA.
The official allied to Attorney General, Justin Muturi, explained that the ruling party needed to be accommodative of all the parties and promote multi-party democracy.
'We have never heard of any ruling party, in any country, saying that they want to fold other parties to be one. We are believers in democracy. Therefore we are not going to allow and accept the push.
"If other parties accept to fold their parties, they can do whatever they want to do, but as DP we will not fold,' he stated.
Haji's statement came after UDA secretary general Cleophas Malala revealed plans to engage with affiliate parties to join UDA.
Malala explained that the move would strengthen the Kenya Kwanza team, making it more vibrant.
"Our objective is to build a perpetual political party with a semblance of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa and the Democratic Party in America.
"I shall be having a consultative agenda with our partners to merge with the UDA party and form one big party," he explained.
On the other hand, while speaking in Eldoret on March 3, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua explained that Malala was appointed to bring vibrance to the ruling party as they strategise for future elections.
"We have made the changes and brought in Malala who is a young man. He is energetic and will build the party for us to beat our opponents early in the morning in 2027," he explained.
Notably, the new strategy by UDA was used in 2017 by former President Uhuru Kenyatta who folded affiliates into one Jubilee party.
Meanwhile, UDA announced mass registration for its members ahead of the nationwide election of grassroots officials.
