Five members of President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance(UDA) elections board have been sent packing.,
The President, who is the UDA party leader, kicked out Salome Beacco, Aurelia Rono, Ummi Bashir, Matiko Chacha, Raphael Chimera, retaining only two in radical changes ahead of the forthcoming party’s polls.
In the changes, UDA retained Kenya Revenue Authority Chairperson and long-time ally Anthony Mwaura as the board’s chairperson and member Halake Dida.
The president’s move to retain Mwaura could be a sign of his confidence in the man who oversaw the UDA primaries ahead of the 2022 general election.
Other members of the new NEB include; the 2022 UDA nominations Nandi County Returning Officer Veronica Kiberenge as Vice Chairperson, , National Youth Bunge Association assistant Secretary General Lydia Munika, Jimmy Kaingi, Vice Chairperson of the National Museums of Kenya Mary Mutinga, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Council member Linda Kiome and the 2022 Isiolo gubernatorial ODM candidate Halake Dida
At the same time, UDA has named Kenya Power Chairperson Joy Masinde as the Electoral Disputes Resolution Committee (EDRC) chair.
Other members are Adrian Kamotho – Vice-Chairperson and Hellen Makone, Yvonne Cherop Kae, Dr. Duncan Ojwang, Kaberia Isaac, Barbra Japan, Anjichi Joseph and Ziporah Karimi Muiruri.
The Internal Dispute Resolution Committee (IDRC) will be chaired by the Narok County Women representative Rebecca Tonkei – Chairperson with other members being the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) Member of Parliament Hassan Omar, Joshua On’gera, Leah Manyarkiy, Samuel Kariuki, Bishop Robert Theuri and Ronald Shako.
The appointments were made on Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024, after Ruto chaired a National Steering Committee meeting at the Hustler Centre.
The new team will be tasked with overseeing the party’s first grassroots and national election set to begin later this month.
The elections were planned to begin on April 12 but will start on April 26, 2024, staggered starting with seven counties.
In a statement on Tuesday, UDA secretary general Cleopas Malala said the first phase of the elections will include Nairobi, Narok, West-Pokot, Busia, Homabay, Isiolo and Garissa.
The party will then move to hold elections in some of its strongholds on June 22, in 13 counties.
The counties in the second phase include Mombasa, Uasin Gishu, Nyandarua, Tharaka Nithi, Machakos, Kisii, Bungoma, Siaya, Taita Taveta, Wajir, Tana River, Kwale and Marsabit.
The third phase will see 15 more counties hold grassroots polls on August 10, 2024.
The counties in this phase will be Kiambu, Embu, Kericho, Meru, Migori, Kakamega, Nyamira, Kitui, Elgeyo Marakwet, Samburu, Kajiado, Mandera, Kilifi, Murang’a and Lamu.
The last phase will take place on August 24, 2024, in 12 counties namely; Nakuru, Bomet, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Nandi, Baringo, Turkana, Laikipia, Trans-Nzoia, Kisumu, Vihiga and Makueni.
