A section of officials of political parties allied to the Kenya Kwanza coalition has told off UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala over his calls for all parties to fold up.
Led by ANC Uasin Gishu Chief Executive Officer Gregory Lwambu, the officials insist calls for other Kenya Kwanza parties to join UDA are ill advised.
In a media briefing on March 10, 2023, the officials insisted that they will remain operating as independent parties within the ruling coalition.
“ANC is not a village party. It has been built over time like other parties in the country. It has membership from across the country so there is no way we can dissolve it,” Lwambu said.
No to merger plans
The officials are now asking Malala to focus on his job as UDA Secretary General and keep off the affairs of other political parties.
Barely two weeks after he was named to the new role, the former Kakamega Senator has been calling for all parties to join President William Ruto-led UDA.
Malala in one of the recent interviews further said it was wrong for individuals to hold influential cabinet positions yet they were still members of different parties.
The calls have since attracted mixed reactions, with pundits suggesting the message was targeted at the National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, his senate counterpart Amason Kingi, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Dr Alfrd Mutua.
All the four are not members of UDA.
“Malala should know that were it not for the smaller parties, Kenya Kwanza could not have won the election. Let’s stop these petty talks and allow every party to build itself so that by 2027, we will all be stronger,” noted Jeremiah Samoei, a Uasin Gishu County official of Maendeleo Chap Chap.
“Malala should also come slowly. The small post he has been given should not excite him,” he added.
The officials further called for an end to calls for folding up of smaller parties to give room for the government to address challenges facing Kenyans like cost of living and hunger.
Kenya Kwanza was founded by UDA, ANC and Ford Kenya, before it later welcomed over 16 other political parties before the 2022 general election.
