UDA fires back at Uhuru over Raila’s 2022 victory claim

NAIROBI, Kenya—The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has launched a fresh political attack on retired President Uhuru Kenyatta after he said he still believes the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga won the 2022 presidential election.

UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar accused Kenyatta of refusing to accept the outcome of the election, hours after the former president renewed his claim during a Jubilee Party leadership meeting in Nairobi.

“Retired President Uhuru Kenyatta continues to live and wallow in a fool’s paradise,” Omar said.

The UDA official maintained that President William Ruto won the 2022 election, rejecting claims that the results were manipulated to deny Odinga the presidency.

“President Ruto won the 2022 election decisively and conclusively,” Omar said.

Kenyatta, who backed Odinga’s presidential bid in 2022, said earlier Tuesday that he remained convinced that the former Prime Minister won the election.

“We did everything to help him become President of Kenya. And to date I know that he won that election. We know how things went, and we don’t want it to happen that way again,” Kenyatta said.

His remarks have reopened debate over an election whose outcome was challenged before the Supreme Court.

Official IEBC results showed Ruto winning the August 9, 2022 presidential election with 7,176,141 votes, representing 50.49 per cent, against Odinga’s 6,942,930 votes, or 48.85 per cent.

The Supreme Court subsequently upheld the presidential election result after considering petitions challenging Ruto’s victory. The court has exclusive original jurisdiction over presidential election disputes under Article 163 of the Constitution.

Omar, however, accused Kenyatta of attempting to undermine the electoral process before, during and after the 2022 election.

He cited alleged threats against then-IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati, claims concerning UDA supporters and the dramatic events surrounding the declaration of the presidential results at the Bomas of Kenya.

UDA also rejected Kenyatta’s suggestion that his support was central to Odinga’s 2022 presidential campaign, instead crediting Ruto with helping Kenyatta secure the presidency in the 2013 and 2017 elections.

“Truth be told, Uhuru would not have even won the 2013 and 2017 elections were it not for the vigorous campaign mounted by President Ruto, then his running mate. He owes his two terms to President William Ruto,” the party said.

The exchange marks another chapter in the deteriorating relationship between the two former political allies, whose partnership dominated the Jubilee era before their fallout during Kenyatta’s second term.

UDA has now shifted the confrontation towards the 2027 presidential contest, with the party saying Ruto would seek another term and promising a renewed political battle with his opponents.

Kenyatta, meanwhile, has endorsed former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i for the presidency in 2027, adding another dimension to the emerging opposition realignments ahead of the election.