NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 10 — President William Ruto abandoned plans to make Justin Muturi his running mate in the 2022 elections due to party pressures and the need to secure votes from the influential Mt. Kenya region, the Democratic Party leader has revealed.
Speaking about the selection process, Muturi said that on the night before the running mate was announced, Ruto called him from Mombasa and requested a meeting in Karen.
“At the meeting, he explained that leaders within UDA had insisted the running mate had to come from UDA and from Mt. Kenya,” Muturi recounted in an interview on Tuesday.
“He also told me that because I belonged to another party, the Democratic Party, I could not join UDA, and therefore the earlier promise could not be fulfilled.”
Muturi said he understood Ruto’s position and told him it was okay, noting that the president appeared visibly relieved.
The decision came amid a broader contest in which then Tharaka Nithi Senator Kithure Kindiki had reportedly won the UDA Electoral College and opinion polls, but was edged out due to “other considerations,” including questions about his ability to mobilize votes from the Mt. Kenya region.
Kindiki had alluaded to the process terming it as fair.
“There were other considerations… that were not part of the formal electoral college but were considered in informal discussions.”
Doubts
Muturi revealed that Ruto had also expressed doubts about Kindiki’s political reach, noting that people in Mt. Kenya were even asking whether he was Maasai because he could hardly speak Kikuyu.
Ultimately, Ruto settled on Rigathi Gachagua as his running mate, citing the need to secure votes from Mt. Kenya.
“Picking Kindiki would have been political suicide. Rigathi Gachagua had the political base and ability to deliver votes from Mt. Kenya — and indeed, that is exactly what happened,” Muturi said.
He emphasized that Gachagua’s influence in the region remains unmatched, noting that even Ruto acknowledges that Kindiki lacks the political sway to shift the Mt. Kenya vote.
Muturi’s account sheds light on the strategic calculations behind Ruto’s 2022 campaign, highlighting the balancing act between party loyalty, regional representation, and voter mobilization that ultimately shaped the 2022 ticket.
