Aspirants eyeing various elective seats on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket in Uasin Gishu have agreed to stick with the party even after losing during the primaries.
The agreement was reached during a UDA aspirants’ meeting in Eldoret town convened by the National Elections Board (NEB).
NEB has been going around the country for consultative meetings with aspirants in readiness for the upcoming party primaries.
Speaking after the meeting, board chairperson Eng. Anthony Mwaura said all the aspirants had agreed that no one will ditch the party for independence.
“We have all agreed that once we finish nominations, nobody will go as an independent candidate. We will remain in UDA and help campaign for Deputy President William Ruto,” said Eng. Mwaura.
The aspirants also pledged to conduct peaceful campaigns.
UDA has scheduled to hold its nominations between April 9 and 16th.
“We are grateful for the aspirants’ commitment and we urge them to do as promised,” said the NEB boss.
He further assured that the party will hold a free and fair nomination.
According to Eng. Mwaura, nobody has been issued with a UDA certificate, as it has been feared by some aspirants
“We’re going to make sure nominations will be free and fair. That is our wish and commitment. The aspirants have been scared because of rumors that some have certificates and we’ve assured them that nobody has the certificate. We have not even printed ballot papers,” said the elections board boss.
He noted that part of the ongoing engagements is to assure them of a free and fair party poll.
“We want to make sure our nominations will be something else to be remembered many years to come,” he said.
Previous party primaries have witnessed a shortage of ballot papers, something that has aided malpractice – but for UDA, ballot papers will be delivered based on the number of registered members per polling center.
The party which has been rated as the most popular by recent opinion polls has also invited international observers to its nominations.
