A section of Kilifi residents and leaders have termed Senate Speaker Amason Kingi’s decision to dissolve the Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) party a selfish political move that will cost him in the future.

Speaking on various occasions, the residents said Kingi’s move had indicated that he was not about to champion the interests of the coastal people through a political party but that it was all about his personal interests.

The residents, led by Hans Ondiek, claimed that the former governor of Kilifi did not consult PAA members when making the move and that they only discovered it when he appeared at an Iftar dinner organised by the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party held at the Swahili port in Mombasa a few days ago.

“It is very unfortunate that the party that was formed to champion the interests of the coastal people has been silently dissolved and the party leader who is Senate Speaker Kingi joined UDA. This is a stab in the back, especially for supporters who viewed it as an alternative voice to the dominance of ODM in the region, and it also shows how selfish a leader of Kingi’s calibre can be,” he said.

He revealed that any leader associated with the broad-based government will find it difficult to be re-elected in Kilifi County and the country at large due to the economic and political persecution of Kenyans by the President William Ruto administration.

“President Ruto should know that Kenyans don’t want him, and he is now killing political parties. He was behind their formation in 2022 so that he could consolidate power through ODM and UDA, but I want to warn him that Kenyans are awake and that they will not elect leaders under these parties since that will be the only way to clip his powers and send him home in 2027,” said Ondiek.

Kingi joining UDA

While addressing the Iftar dinner, Kingi shocked supporters by publicly announcing that he had joined the UDA and that the party will field candidates in all political positions.

“In 2022, my PAA party had a governor candidate in Kilifi, George Kithi, and he is here with us in UDA, and recently, as PAA, we had poached Aisha Jumwa from UDA, but we folded, and we are now together in UDA. UDA is going to field candidates in all positions in the coast region, and we know it is not going to be easy because ODM is strong, but we are ready to tackle them,” said Kingi.

Kingi’s party has, in the recent past, suffered politically after more than 500 grassroots leaders from Kilifi defected to ODM and were received by Governor Gideon Mung’aro.

Elizabeth Muthoka, one of those who defected before the dissolution of the party, said that they were hoodwinked into supporting it with the promise that issues affecting residents could be resolved.

Plans to disband PAA

While expressing gratitude for joining ODM, Muthoka narrated the events of a recent State House meeting where President William Ruto told PAA leadership to dissolve the party and join either his United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party or ODM since he was keen on forming the 2027 government with the two main political parties.

“We had a vision and an ideology when PAA was formed, but we were hoodwinked, and the party ideology was abandoned and replaced with selfish interests. That is why we have resolved to walk out,” said Muthoka.

She added that the president was keen on working with the ODM party and that as residents of Kilifi they were compelled to join since ODM was the most popular party in the coastal region.

“When we were in PAA, we thought that we could dislodge ODM from the region, but we later discovered that it was impossible to outdo ODM here. We are now demanding the dissolution of PAA because it is a briefcase party with no following,” she added.

UDA also suffered a blow after some of its grassroots leaders led by NGAAF director Ruth Bendera decamped and joined ODM.

Bendera said that she joined the party since it was very accommodating to divergent opinions, unlike the UDA, where the party leadership in the county was squabbling.