NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 24 – The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) will join forces with its newly found allies in Parliament to guard against unchecked public debt and taxation proposals.
UDA made the announcement on Monday following a Parliamentary Group meeting during which lawmakers endorsed the party’s alliance with the Amani National Congress and FORD Kenya.
Speaking at Deputy President William Ruto’s official residence in Karen, Kandara lawmaker Alice Wahome said the party’s immediate priority will be to push for the review of the budget policy to cushion Kenyans facing harsh economic situations due to the persistent drought in parts of the country.
“We’ve resolved any further attempts to burden the people of Kenyan with an unaccountable debt. We’ve therefore resolved to oppose proposals in the Finance Bill to tax people in this country further,” she said.
Wahome added that the UDA-led alliance will seek allocation of more resources to county governments.
“The UDA’s Parliamentary Group has resolved to amend the budget policy statement in order to increase county allocation to near 35 per cent as a practical measure to increase service delivery at the bottom of the pyramid,” she said.
Other matters prioritized in the agenda include the Political Parties Bill, Election Laws, Huduma Bill, Finance Bill, Petroleum Products Bill and Regulation of Political Parties Act.
Garissa Township MP Aden Duale said the party will hold more consultations with ANC and FORD Kenya to synchronize their agenda in Parliament.
“Our members will participate robustly and vigilantly to ensure that the legislative output is pro-hustler and conforms with the core principles of the UDA and national social-economic transformation platform,” said Duale.
He further pointed out that UDA will continue to involve all Kenyans to participate in defining and refining party’s agenda and that of its partnerships.
“The UDA is committed to conducting its political activity in a peaceful, inclusive and respectful manner that optimizes democratic engagement and produces a cohesive national conversation,” said Duale.
This follows an announcement by Deputy President William Ruto on Sunday that that the United Democratic Alliance will work with the Amani National Congress (ANC), Ford Kenya and any other likeminded parties as he joined forces with Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula.
Ruto who was speaking during the ANC’s National Delegates Congress at the Bomas of Kenya said the parties will hold joint campaign rallies starting with Nakuru on Wednesday before they tour Bungoma on Friday and Central region on Saturday.
“Kenya is greater than anyone of us and we will make sacrifices that needs to be made so that we can consolidate our nation and take Kenyan to the next level,” he said.
They insisted the three parties will take the leadership of the country to a new level, devoid of political deceit.
“We are going to walk this journey with many Kenyans. We will raise the bar of leadership so that deceit, lies and conmanship doesn’t become part of the equation in leadership,” Ruto said.
The Deputy President pointed out that his economic agenda of bottom up and Mudavadi’s ‘uchumi bora, pesa mfukoni,’ will without a doubt liberate the country economically.
“The coming together of our agendas we will have the chance to deal decisively with challenges that face our nation. Pesa mfukoni must start from the bottom,” Ruto said.
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