![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/54eef696-7842-4a60-b6df-59081347aeab.jpeg\")
UDA party elected leaders from Nyeri county and the party secretariat during the grassroots elections sensitization program at Kagumo Teachers Training College on December 10, 2025The ruling United Democratic Alliance faces a big political test in Mt Kenya
\nregion as it conducts its party grassroots elections this Saturday.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe elections will also be conducted in the Rift Valley, the only other
\nremaining region.<\/p>\n
The two regions propelled President William Ruto to the 2022
\nelectoral victory.<\/p>\n
\n
\nHowever, things have changed in Mt Kenya, with growing hostility towards President
\nRuto\u2019s administrations and the UDA party. <\/p>\n
The party elections, the first in the
\nregion, thus come at a delicate moment for Ruto. <\/p>\n
\n
\nMt Kenya, once a key support base for Ruto, has been restive following the
\nimpeachment of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and the subsequent formation
\nof his political outfit, the Democracy for the Citizens Party. <\/p>\n
\n
\nAt the same time, retired President Uhuru Kenyatta has stepped up efforts to
\nrevive his Jubilee Party, further
\ncomplicating the political terrain for UDA in the region. <\/p>\n
\n
\nDCP and Jubilee are widely viewed as Mt Kenya-centric parties, largely
\nbecause of their association with Gachagua and Uhuru respectively. Their
\nrenewed activity has intensified competition for political influence in a
\nregion, which in 2022 voted for Ruto almost to a man. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
\nFor UDA, the grassroots elections are intended to entrench party structures
\nat the ward, constituency and county levels, strengthen mobilisation and
\nreconnect the party with its base. <\/p>\n
\n
\nNyeri Senator Wahome Wamatinga said the grassroots elections will offer an
\nopportunity to strengthen the ruling party.<\/p>\n
\n
\n\u201cUDA, being the ruling party,\u2026 we would want to revamp it. We have seen and
\nare quite excited by the interest people have expressed in the party. For
\ninstance in Mukurweini, we have 2,800 people who have registered to compete in
\ndifferent offices in the polling station level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n
\nNotably, Mukurweini MP John Kaguchia, who was elected on the UDA ticket, has
\nsince aligned with the Gachagua camp.<\/p>\n
\n
\nIn Mathira, MP Eric Wamumbi said 3,000 participants have registered to
\nseek different positions.<\/p>\n
\n
\n\u201cEvery polling station will be required to elect 20 representatives to
\nrepresent them in the UDA party. After that, we will have ward-level elections,
\nthen constituency and county elections, all the way to the national level. We
\nwant to build a strong party with structures right from the grassroots level,\u201d
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\n
\nMathira is Gachagua’s home constituency. <\/p>\n
\n
\nHowever, the exercise is unfolding against a backdrop of public discontent
\nlinked to economic pressures, controversial policy choices, and perceptions the region has been sidelined since Gachagua\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n
\n
\nPolitical observers see the elections as both
\nan organisational exercise and a political barometer. <\/p>\n
Low turnout, disputed
\noutcomes or visible resistance to UDA candidates could signal deeper problems
\nfor the party in Mt Kenya. <\/p>\n
\n
\nThe party was forced to extend the registration period to January 5 to \u201callow
\nall eligible participants adequate time to complete the registration\u201d. <\/p>\n
\n
\nThe party secretariat also moved to establish county-based support teams to
\nassist members and candidates who may be experiencing challenges. <\/p>\n
\n
\nOn the other hand, a smooth process with strong participation could offer Ruto\u2019s allies an opportunity to argue that the party still retains
\nsignificant grassroots support despite recent turbulence.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe stakes are particularly high for UDA
\nleaders and elected officials from Mt Kenya who have remained loyal to Ruto.<\/p>\n
They are under pressure to use the elections to popularise the
\nparty, defend the government\u2019s record, and counter narratives being advanced by
\nDCP and a resurgent Jubilee. Failure to do so could weaken their standing both
\nwithin the party and among voters in their backyards, playing their own
\npolitical future on the lifeline.<\/p>\n
\n
\nIn the Rift Valley, President Ruto\u2019s political
\nstronghold, the elections are expected to be less contentious. Still, the
\nregion will be closely watched for signs of internal competition, factionalism
\nor voter apathy that could affect UDA\u2019s cohesion going into the next electoral
\ncycle.<\/p>\n
\n
\nBeyond internal party dynamics and in the
\nregions, the grassroots polls have broader implications for the 2027 presidential
\nrace. <\/p>\n
\n
\nA strong showing by UDA in Mt Kenya would complicate efforts by rival
\nparties to consolidate the region against Ruto. <\/p>\n
On the other hand,
\nany visible cracks could embolden DCP and Jubilee as they seek to position
\nthemselves as alternative vehicles for Mt Kenya\u2019s political interests.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe elections also test UDA\u2019s capacity as a
\nrelatively young party to manage internal democracy without triggering disputes
\nthat could spill into the courts or fuel defections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UDA party elected leaders from Nyeri county and the party secretariat during the grassroots elections sensitization program at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[80,351,352,98,100,353,101,350,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-10562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-kenya","9":"tag-kenya-news","10":"tag-star","11":"tag-star-news","12":"tag-star-news-kenya","13":"tag-star-newspaper-kenya","14":"tag-the-star","15":"tag-the-star-kenya","16":"tag-the-star-newspaper"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}