Former Bahati Member of Parliament (MP) Kimani Ngunjiri has severed ties with the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.
The politician announced his exit from the UDA party while speaking during a radio interview on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
"I want to say in this media and everybody in Kenya to hear me, I am not in UDA myself. I will never wear yellow anymore," Ngunjiri said.
When asked why he quit UDA, the former Bahati lawmaker claimed the UDA party conducted a flawed nomination exercise that rewarded families, friends and cronies.
He claimed UDA dished out seven nomination slots to one powerful family in his home county of Nakuru.
"Because I have been with Moi, I have been with Kibaki, I know the structure of election. I know how the people should put people together, I know how you should get your right on nomination, it did not work," Ngunjiri lamented.
"My people in Bahati who supported the UDA they got nothing," he added.
The former Bahati MP stated that he would support President William Ruto in the next election but vowed not to align himself with UDA.
"So for the UDA let us not talk about it here because I am not part and parcel - for the UDA. I will support the President. I will go either Independent or any other party but in UDA, hio ni matope, hio ni shida ambaye iko mbele yetu. It's a big problem," Ngunjiri remarked.
The former Bahati MP additionally claimed that UDA expelled him even before he made the decision to quit the party.
He cried foul saying that the ruling party had snubbed him when making key appointments.
"Before we remove ourselves we are already removed, we are nowhere. Somebody like me they are appointing people they are giving people positions, where am I? I was almost dying fighting for the UDA," Ngunjiri stated.
2022 polls
Kimani Ngunjiri lost the Bahati parliamentary seat in the August 9, 2022, General Election to Jubilee's Irene Njoki.
The incumbent garnered 34,308 votes as Ngunjiri who vied on a UDA ticket came a distant second with 26,809 votes.
The former Bahati MP landed a plum government job after losing his seat but a court ruling rendered him jobless again.
Ngunjiri was among the 50 Chief Administrative Secretaries (CASs) appointed by Ruto, he had been appointed to serve in the Lands Ministry.
The court on July 4, 2023, ruled that the position of CASs was abolished in September 2022, adding that the appointments by Ruto were therefore not within the provision of the constitution.
"Once that office was abolished on 21 September 2022, the newly-created office and complement of 23 office holders could no longer benefit from that stay.
“The newly-created office and fresh complement of 50 had to comply with the constitution and the criteria set out earlier in Okiyah’s case in order to be lawfully established. They did not comply. The entire complement of 50 CASs is therefore unconstitutional,” the court ruled.
Additionally, the court also stated the lack of public participation during the appointment of the CASs as another reason for making the appointment unconstitutional.
