Kirinyaga Woman Rep. Purity Ngirici Ditches Ruto’s UDA Party

Kirinyaga Woman Representative Purity Ngirici has ditched Deputy President William Ruto's United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party.

Ngirici, who has been a stern supporter of Ruto, says she will contest for the Kirinyaga gubernatorial seat in 2022 on an independent ticket.

The woman representative claims there have been attempts by senior UDA officials to compel her to drop her bid for the Kirinyaga governor seat in favor of Ann Waiguru and instead vie for the Mwea parliamentary seat.

Ngirici, who spoke during a tour of Mwea and Gichugu constituencies, said she was convinced that UDA nominations will not be free and fair given that officials have preferred candidates.

“If they are telling you to vie for Mwea seat, do you think there will be fair nominations? They received over Sh200 million from local politicians to buy nomination tickets, do you think there will be a fair nomination?” she posed.

“I better give you the money instead of buying a UDA ticket,” Ngirici told residents.

At the same time, the first-time MP urged Kirinyaga residents to vote for their preferred presidential candidates in next year’s elections. “You can choose either William Ruto, Raila Odinga, or Musalia Mudavadi as your presidential candidate,” said Ngirici.

Ngirici had been a close ally of Ruto until October this year when Waiguru declared her support for the deputy president and announced she will defend her seat under UDA.