Former United Democratic Alliance (UDA) vice chair Kipruto Kirwa now says he left the party due to "toxicity" within.
Speaking on K24 TV on Thursday, January 12, the former Minister of Agriculture said the party cannot remain firm without President William Ruto.
"I do not know whether UDA would survive without William Ruto. I left UDA partly because there was a lot of toxicity within the inner circle, so I joined my colleagues in Azimio," he said during the show.
Kirwa said despite joining Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition, he did not join any individual party that formed the outfit.
"I moved into Azimio but I did not move into any individual party. I believe that even in the opposition we have a role to play, this is our country, and we can criticize but in a meaningful way," he stated.
At the same time, Kirwa blamed the government for Raila Odinga's loss in the August 9, 2022 presidential election.
"Raila had the misfortune of carrying an extra burden on which the government was blamed, and anything that went wrong with the government was blamed on him.
"Allowing President Uhuru to be part of Azimio was also a big mistake," he said.
He added: "Losing an election is part of the electioneering process, what concerns me is whether we shall improve the hygiene of the electioneering period. No one goes into an election knowing that they are going to lose."
Kirwa regrets quitting UDA
On December 14, 2022, the former Cherangany MP said he regretted ditching Kenya Kwanza for Azimio.
"When I decamped from Kenya Kwanza, I was not decamping to join the opposition.
"I was hoping Azimio would make it to government, so it was the lowest point," he said.
