Another blow for Ruto as Tabitha Karanja ditches UDA for DCP

 

Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja Keroche said will be contesting for governorship on a DCP ticket. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja Keroche has ditched President William Ruto’s UDA for Gachagua’s DCP.

Her announcement comes just a day after Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba officially announced she will not seek re-election on a UDA ticket, declaring her intention to exit the ruling party ahead of the 2027 General Election.

Wamuchomba said her decision followed extensive consultations, soul-searching, and a refusal to remain aligned with leaders who fail to respect others.

“I am not going to seek a seat through my party, UDA. I am going to join Kenyans... I will follow what they tell me,” Wamuchomba declared, adding that while she will use a different political vehicle, she has not yet named her next party.

And in another blow to Ruto’s camp, Keroche, who is also the Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate, said she had decided after realising that UDA had lost touch with Kenyans amid a rise in the cost of living.

DCP leaders from Nakuru said that they had the blessings of their leader Rigathi Gachagua in receiving Karanja to the party.

In the last couple of months, several elected leaders from Central Kenya have ditched UDA ahead of next year’s general elections.

Addressing tens of her supporters in her home in Karai Naivasha, Karanja said that she had engaged voters in the county before reaching the decision.

She said that UDA had lost touch with the electorate across the country after failing to keep most of the pledges in the last general elections.

“From today I have ditched UDA, and I will vie for Nakuru Governor's seat on DCP ticket and my party leader is aware of this,” she said.

The Senator hit out at her boss, President William Ruto, for failing to connect with Kenyans and for always lying as thousands continued to sleep hungry.

“The other day the President was saying that the country is flooded with milk, yet in real terms there is no milk even in our supermarkets,” she said.

During the ceremony, the Senator lashed out at Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika over the manner she had run down the county in the last four years.

She said that despite receiving and collecting over Sh26B every year, the county health was on its knees, with most hospitals operating without staff and medication.

“Our roads are in deplorable condition; we have tens of pending bills, stalled projects and an absent governor who is operating from abroad,” she said.

Karanja said that she would continue to fight for the reopening of War Memorial Hospital, which was controversially closed by the current county government.

“This county is yet to disburse bursary funds to the needy; minors and mothers are dying during birth, there is no water in some hospitals, and it's time we had new leadership,” she said.

DCP Secretary-General in Nakuru Simon Nasieku, while welcoming the Senator, was quick to note that this was not a direct nomination.

“The fall of UDA is here with us and we expect more leaders to defect to DCP, which is going to be part and parcel of the next government come 2027,” he said.

On his part, DCP Chairman in Nakuru Joseph Kimani promised free and fair nominations when the party holds its nominations early next year.