The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) is the current ruling

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in Kenya. Their slogan is "Kazi ni Kazi" (literally: ''A job is a job''; All hustles matter) and their symbol is a

wheelbarrow A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is mad ...

. The party, initially called the Party of Development and Reforms, officially changed its name to UDA in December 2020. The party became notable in January 2021, and is allied with

William Ruto William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto (born 21 December 1966) is a Kenyan politician who is serving as the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the 11th deputy president of Ken ...

, the

President of Kenya The president of the Republic of Kenya () is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Kenya. The President is also the head of the executive branch of the Government of Kenya and is the commander-in-chief of the Kenya Defe ...

. The party fielded candidates in March 2021

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

s. UDA nominated Ruto in the

2022 Kenyan general election General elections are scheduled to be held in Kenya on 9 August 2022. Voters will elect the President, members of the National Assembly and Senate, county governors and members of the 47 county assemblies. Background The Constitution of Kenya ...

, after he announced that he would leave the

Jubilee Party The Jubilee Party of Kenya was the ruling political party of the Republic of Kenya from 2016 until 13 September 2022. The party was founded on 8 September 2016, following the merger of 11 smaller parties. During the 2017 election, the Jubilee ...

in late 2021. Ruto picked

Rigathi Gachagua Geoffrey Rigathi Gachagua (born 28 February 1965) is a Kenyan politician, who is serving as the current Deputy President of Kenya since 2022. He previously served as the Member of Parliament for Mathira Constituency between 2017 to 2022 as member ...

as his running mate for the elections. In the 2022 general elections, UDA was able to garner 22 out of 47 seats in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and 138 of the elected members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

. The party uses wheelbarrow as the party's symbol which stands for "worth, respect, and dignity of work in pursuit of an unbiased society". The party is founded based on principles of good governance, including; love, unity, freedom, peace, accountability, diversity, justice and equity. The party also has received great support from the Kenyan population, boasting over 6,942,397 votes from registered members. UDA's vision is an equitably empowered Kenyan society living in a peaceful and united country. UDA is a member of

Kenya Kwanza Kenya Kwanza ( Swahili: "Kenya First") is a Kenyan political alliance currently headed by William Ruto. The political coalition currently forms the majority side in both the National Assembly as well as the Senate of Kenya. It was formed in the ...

Misinformation on social media

During the August 2022 General Elections in Kenya, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Party's social media was not spared from misinformation. A Facebook post claiming that nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura has been appointed the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party flagbearer for the Kiambu senatorial position was false. Another example of misinformation spreading online was a viral image that claimed to show Kilifi gubernatorial candidate Aisha Jumwa pleading to speak at a UDA rally in Malindi. However, PesaCheck confirmed that the image is not of Jumwa, and the claim is false.Additionally, there were false claims that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was contesting the Elgeyo Marakwet Senatorial seat on a UDA Party ticket. There were claims that Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho had threatened to leave the Azimio La Umoja coalition and join UDA following Mike Sonko's clearance to vie for the Mombasa gubernatorial seat. PesaCheck investigated this claim and found it to be false.

References

External links

Independent Electoral and Boundaries CommissionOfficial websiteSouthern Africa chapterUDA Youth
2020 establishments in Kenya Political parties established in 2020 Political parties in Kenya {{Kenya-party-stub