Ruto orders suspension of UDA elections in two districts and instructs Gachagua to resolve problems in Nairobi

President William Ruto instructed his deputy Rigathi Gachagua to resolve an impasse within the Nairobi wing of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).

The Head of State issued the order during an emergency meeting at the State House on Saturday, June 8.

According to a UDA statement, Gachagua’s role is to ensure the restoration of unity between the two camps. disagree about how the grassroots elections should be conducted.

The DP will therefore lead the negotiations, which are expected to lead to a political solution.

“The elections in Nairobi can be held on the same day as in the other two districts,” the President instructed his deputy.

In Nairobi, two camps are at loggerheads: one is aligned with Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, while the other is aligned with Embakasi North MP James Gakuya. Both are seeking the presidency of the UDA in Nairobi County.

During one of the elections two weeks ago, there were clashes between supporters of both camps at a polling station in one of the constituencies.

During the State House sitting, President Ruto also directed National Electoral Board (NEB) Chairman Anthony Mwaura to cancel the grassroots elections in Narok and West Pokot districts.

He explained that the elections were suspended due to pending disputes before the courts.

“If courts have issued orders to stop the elections, we must postpone them. We must respect the orders of the courts,” Ruto added.

The party leader also settled the dispute over the composition of the National Delegates Conference (NDC) by strongly advocating for the formula to allocate delegates at the district level, depending on the number of votes each district gave to the UDA presidential candidate in the 2022 elections.

Under this procedure, the districts that received more than 50 percent of the votes will each provide 20 delegates for the NDC, while the districts that received less than 50 percent of the votes will share the remaining places pro rata.

The head of state also gave the UDA the green light to hold grassroots elections in 13 other districts.