ANC officials denounce Cleophas Malala, reject UDA merger talk
The merger between the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and Amani National Congress (ANC) may not happen soon.
This after a youth leader at ANC suggested the political outfit, which has for long been associated with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, will soon embark on a recruitment drive in a bid to strengthen ahead of the 2027 polls.
Speaking in Kitale town, Kevin Kubamba further quashed reports the party is keen to fold up and join President William Ruto’s UDA.
He said: “We are actively enlisting new members into the party. This serves as a demonstration that we have no intention of disbanding. Our party’s goals extend beyond the current generation.”
The sentiments come even as the ANC faces increased pressure to join UDA.
Recently, UDA secretary general Cleophas Malala, who incidentally is a former member of the ANC, reiterated his call for the party and Ford-Kenya to join UDA in a bid to form a ‘formidable force’ ahead of the 2022 polls.
Malala further appeared to dismiss ANC as a village party that had a ‘next to zero’ chance of winning the presidency in an election.
“We have some parties here in which the party leader, secretary general and other top officials come from the same village. How can such a party achieve a national outlook to contest and win the presidency?” he quipped.
“We need to at times be honest to each other. You will not win the presidency with a village party,” said Malala, who incidentally contested for the Kakamega gubernatorial seat on an ANC ticket in the 2022 polls, and lost to the Orange Democratic Movement’s (ODM) Fernandes Barasa.
But, the ANC and Ford-Kenya, a political outfit associated with National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula, has dismissed Malala’s claims, while warning him to respect the two parties which played a crucial role in the election of President Ruto.
“We consider it disrespectful for Malala, a former member of ANC, to trivialize the parties that collaborated with UDA to establish the Kenya Kwanza government in the last general elections. This undermines the spirit of unity,” asserted Solomon Murutu, ANC’s Trans Nzoia branch secretary.
President Ruto recently announced the UDA will head to the polls in December 2022 to elect new officials who will replace the current ones that have been serving in the interim.
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