Jirongo,
Kirwa seen to shift party loyalty to UDM
Related News
SHARE THIS STORY
Updated Monday, July 09 2012 at 20:00 GMT+3
By Vitalis Kimutai
A number of politicians including Lugari MP
Cyrus Jirongo are eyeing the United Democratic Movement presidential ticket as
political re-alignments unfold ahead of the next General Election.
Jirongo and former Agriculture minister Kipruto
arap Kirwa, who are among the founder members of UDM, are said to be headed
back to the party.
Kirwa, now a diplomat and a former Cheranganyi
MP is eyeing a seat in Trans Nzoia County.
Jirongo whose Kaddu party did not meet the
minimum threshold for registration under the Political Parties Act 2011, has
announced severing of links with the United Republican Party.
The Lugari MP was initially expected to fight it
out with Eldoret North MP William Ruto for URP’s ticket, but he has since
thrown in the towel over allegations he had been sidelined in party affairs.
“I am no longer a party to the G7 alliance as it
is a project that is being propelled by State House to exclude others in the
presidential race. I am soon announcing my party of choice as my stay in URP is
no longer teneable,” Jirongo said.
He is said to have been consulting with UDM
officials in the past few weeks and that an announcement would soon be made on
the matter which has generated much interests.
Expressed interests
Some ODM MPs from Rift Valley, especially from
the South Rift region, are also expected to decamp to the party owing to what
they are claiming to be continued marginalisation in party affairs and skewed
manner in which the Cabinet positions have been dished out in the past.
Lt Gen (rtd) John Koech, the UDM national
chairman said in an interview he was privy to information that Jirongo was
interested with rejoining the party but there had been no official communication
on the matter.
“We are aware he has told his supporters he
wants to be UDM’s presidential flag bearer in the next General Election, but he
has not consulted me as the party chairman,” Koech said.
Koech, a former chairman of the Poverty
Eradication Commission, said should the MP engage the party on the matter, it
would first have to be tabled before the National Executive Council.
“NEC officials will weigh the value he will
bring to the party as we have a clear process of recruiting members and picking
a presidential candidate. The rules will be applied,” Koech said.
Good leadership
Mr Martin Kamwaro, the UDM Secretary-General
said the party had attracted support both at the grassroots and national level
as the clock ticks towards the March 4, 2013 election.
“UDM has clearly demonstrated the era of
sycophancy, dictatorship and impunity is long gone as we have a new
constitutional and political dispensation. Ours is a party that welcomes
everyone on board, that it is why a number of politicians are interested with
joining the party,” Kamwaro said.
Nomination process
He added, “When a group of MPs joined the party
over a year ago, they found us weak, but they left us stronger.”
Mr Stanley Rotich, the UDM Secretary of Labour,
separately confirmed Jirongo and Kirwa among others have shown interest in
joining the party.
“Jirongo, Kirwa and others have talked to us on
the matter. As a party, our doors are open to those who share the same ideals,
but whoever wants to be a presidential flagbearer will be subjected to a
competitive process,” Rotich said.
He said grassroots elections will be held before
the end of this month while national office bearers will be picked next month.
If Jirongo joins UDM, it will be the third time
he will be associating with the party having founded it with Ruto and Kirwa
during the Kanu era but later jumped ship to other parties.
Mogotio MP Hellen Sambili is the only UDM MP in
Parliament.
Meanwhile, URP official Steven Mutai and a youth
leader Kibet Komen, described Jirongo as a spoiler who had expected to benefit
had Ruto been barred by the International Criminal Court from contesting the
presidency.
“Jirongo was taken aback when the ICC cleared
Ruto to contest the presidency. It was then he realised he had no chance in URP
and decided to move on,” says Mutai.
No comments:
Post a Comment