Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua (left) welcomes Murang'a Governor Irungu Kang'ata to the DCP party at his Wamunyoro home in Nyeri County on July 24, 2026.

📋 Breaking It Down

In political rallies, it has become common for some members of President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) to rally their supporters to deny him a second term, when on the other hand some Jubilee Party leaders drum up support for his re-election.

On paper, the rebel leaders remain members of their 2022 sponsor parties, but in public, they have switched camps, and are now seeking re-election on the new parties. Some of them have become top party officials in their new outfits.

This is the chaos that has characterised the country’s political landscape 11 months to next year’s General Election as parties remain helpless and unable to instil discipline.

📌 What You Need to Know

Some of the outfits have not made any attempts to initiate disciplinary action against the rebel members, pointing at a system that has given up on protecting party rules.

Interviews with party officials and lawyers point to a cocktail of legal and political loopholes that have continued to be exploited in cultivating the culture of party-hopping.

The long and winding appeal mechanism that has made it near-impossible to expel rebel elected leaders has been cited as a major recipe for the culture. Arbitrary and irregular political partnerships, especially after every election, have also been cited.

President William Ruto and UDA Party leaders when the Head of State hosted UDA grassroots leaders from Nyeri County at Sagana State Lodge, in Nyeri on January 17, 2026.

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The law barring the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from holding any by-election 90 days into the General Election, has also fuelled party indiscipline, especially in the period preceding a General Election.

📰 Source: Nation Africa