Less than a year after his administration faced significant political headwinds, President William Ruto appears to be regaining momentum, reflected in recent poll ratings and sustained United Democratic Alliance (UDA) grassroots activities.
Last Saturday, Nyeri Town was painted yellow by some 17,341 UDA grassroots leaders who were attending a meeting at Sagana State Lodge, which he hosted, signaling his ability to turn the tide in his favour.
It is worth noting that Nyeri is the home turf of Democracy for Citizens Party (DCP) leader and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who was impeached in October 2024, about two years into office, over corruption and unethical conduct, among others.
A survey by Infotrak released three weeks ago showed that President Ruto would beat the United Opposition candidate if the General Election were to be held today.
The survey showed that President Ruto commands 28 percent followed by former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i at 13 percent while Wiper leader retains the third position with 12 per cent.
President Ruto appears to have regained his footing and reclaimed his political strongholds ahead of next year’s General Election.
Although the impeachment of Gachagua appeared to upset the vote-rich Mt. Kenya, events of the last couple of weeks have shown once again that Ruto’s rise to the apex of Kenya’s politics was not by chance.
Specifically, the Nyeri UDA meeting that brought together 17, 341 UDA polling centres from Nyeri County sent shockwaves across the political opposition owing to the large attendance and enthusiasm that greeted his arrival.
Donning the UDA party colours, Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga; a key ally of Gachagua, was on hand to receive and had a message too for people of Mt Kenya and Kenyans in general.
“I belong to the UDA party and my President is William Samoei Ruto. I want to thank the people of Nyeri and all the elected leaders for walking with us and for supporting our President and his government, the government we voted for,” said Governor Kahiga.
“The meeting brought together officials drawn from across the county to appreciate their role in strengthening internal party democracy and to reaffirm UDA’s grassroots-first political philosophy,” UDA party said in a statement.
Each polling centre is represented by 20 officials, reflecting a broad-based and inclusive engagement with party structures at the lowest electoral unit, the party said. The participants were drawn from all the six constituencies in Nyeri County.
It was also the week that Gachagua, who heads the DCP party, watched as leading lights like Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba and Juja MP George Koimburi made scathing attacks before decamping.
During the meeting, Mathira MP Eric Wamumbi maintained that UDA still has a strong presence in the Mt Kenya region noting that residents have since realized that opposition had nothing to offer.
“These people have not changed, they are the same people who overwhelmingly voted for Dr Ruto in 2022 and they will do it again,” said Wamumbi.
During the meeting, President Ruto assured locals that the region is still at the center of his plans noting that the government had allocated Sh4 billion for road construction in Nyeri County.
“For a long time, the bigger challenge in Kenya has been sharing the small cake we have. We now have a strategy to bake a bigger cake for everybody to share,” President Ruto said.
“Through visionary leadership, political collaboration, and unity of purpose, we are establishing a strong political unit to carry the national agenda beyond a single election cycle and to provide continuity in our development journey,” he added.
