Bahati ditches Uhuru for Ruto, eyes Mathare seat
Kenyan musician Kelvin Kioko Bahati has officially ditched the Azimio La Umoja One Kenya Coalition and joined the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) side.
This comes after an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Mathare Constituency seat in the August 2022 polls.
Bahati contested for the parliamentary seat on a Jubilee ticket but lost to ODM’s Anthony Oluoch.
Following his defection, the musician was received at the UDA headquarters by party secretary general Cleophas Malala.
He was accompanied by a number of colleagues in entertainment including his wife Diana Marua, comedian Jasper Muthomi popularly known as MC Jessy, Roy Smith Mwatia (Rufftone), KRG The Don, and David Kilonzo, well known as DK Kwenye Beat.
“Mtu asiwahi sema mimi nilikua wa Azimio, mimi ni mtu UDA damu (Let no one say that I was in Azimio, no, I’m a strong UDA member),” Bahati said.
He said that he cried several times while in Azimio, a move that forced him to look for another party that will pay attention to him.
Also, he expressed confidence that in the next election, which is in 2027, UDA will win the Mathare seat.
“Kwa mara ya kwanza, mimi najua UDA italeta mbunge kutoka Mathare.”
In the build-up to the last election, Bahati found himself in Azimio wrangles as he refused to step down and rally behind the ODM candidate in the spirit of zonings that was meant to ensure the coalition win more seats.
He even once famously walked out on Azimio leader Raila Odinga at a rally after he was compelled to step down and promised a job in government.
Speaking at the UDA office, the artiste said he was happy to join President William Ruto’s party, which he said had confidence in youths.
While welcoming him, Mr Malala said that artists, comedians, and other talents will be recognized by the current regime.
He said that through the launch of Talenta Hela, the President made a deliberate move to mainstream talent into a money-making endeavor.
In his remarks, MC Jessy said that having more artists join UDA is a move to actualize the dream of having the dominating political arena.
“We want to make sure that there will be no artists at the end of President William Ruto’s tenure who will be asking for contributions online,” MC Jessy said.
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