Oparanya caucus demands DP post in Ruto’s next term

Jukwaa

📻 Breaking It Down

The caucus, bringing together elected and nominated leaders from Western Kenya, made the demand in an 11-point declaration issued after its meeting in Kisumu on Monday.

Caucus Spokesperson and Budalangi MP Raphael Wanjala said the leaders had agreed to campaign as one unit for Ruto’s second term.

“That the members of the caucus will work as one unit to campaign for the reelection of President William Ruto,” Wanjala said while reading the declaration.

📌 What You Need to Know

But the leaders made clear that their support would be accompanied by a demand for Western Kenya to secure the country’s second-highest office.

“As the western community, we demand the seat of the deputy president to deputize His Excellency President William Samuel Ruto in the next general election,” Wanjala said.

The demand puts the caucus at odds with Mudavadi’s camp, which enjoys the backing of COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli. Mudavadi has categorically distanced himself from the push for the Deputy President position, saying his political focus is instead on the 2032 presidential contest.

Mudavadi, who folded his ANC party into UDA, has meanwhile been championing a stronger UDA position within the proposed post-2027 political arrangement.

Speaking in Kisumu on Saturday, Mudavadi said UDA and ODM were working on a new broad-based coalition framework and joint manifesto that would anchor Ruto’s re-election and set out the coalition’s agenda for the five years after 2027.

He said UDA’s strength in terms of elected leaders and voter numbers would determine its bargaining power within the new coalition, while noting that ODM had made clear its ambition to regain political power.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya

0 0