Kirinyaga Woman Representative, Purity Wangui Ngirici, on Thursday, November 25, disclosed that she partly financed Deputy President William Ruto's campaign and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) popularisation tours.
Ngirici, who spoke to The Standard, now expresses regrets at her decision to spend millions of shillings on UDA, a party she says has openly shown that it will support her rival, Anne Waiguru, in the Kirinyaga Gubernatorial contest in 2022.
The Woman Rep disclosed that she had converted her 'Ngirici and Sons Rescue Team Centre' to UDA County offices. In addition, she changed the branding of the centre's vehicles, from ambulances and service utility vehicles to UDA colours.
"I don’t even want to remember how much I have used to build the UDA party in Kirinyaga from scratch, but I’m young in politics and still learning,” Ngirici stated.
The Legislator, who has been a close ally of the DP, says she is no longer bitter with President Uhuru Kenyatta's decision to work with ODM leader Raila Odinga.
She is, however, yet to announce if she will be joining Odinga's team.
In her view, Waiguru's decamping to the UDA party has 'opened her eyes.' Ngirici added that her relationship with the DP had also deteriorated and was hanging on the balance.
“I’m, however, confident that my supporters will follow me, regardless of the pedestal I will be standing on.
“Politics is akin to the game of chess; you must study it well as your next decision would determine whether you win or lose. I have now retreated to carefully study my options before I make my next political move," she added.
Ngirici believes that she did a lot to popularise UDA party especially in the Mt Kenya region.
“I popularised UDA Party in Kirinyaga County. I convinced my people that UDA was the political outfit to join, and that Ruto was the man best-suited to take over from [President] Uhuru Kenyatta in 2022. I also made them see the gaps in BBI, which was being championed by the President’s team,” she said.
"During that time, Waiguru was on the other side opposing Ruto, claiming that the DP had rented members of the Kikuyu community. She was also at the forefront popularising BBI across Kenya,” said Ngirici.
“When her [BBI] mission failed, she crossed over to UDA."
