Political heavyweights associated with Deputy President William Ruto are yet to take charge of the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) as its officials, the Star has established.
Former Machakos Senator Johnston Muthama had claimed chairmanship of the party believed to be the DP’s vehicle in the coming 2022 elections.
Muthama even promised to make finer details of the party on January 7.
But according to Registrar of Political Parties (RPP) Ann Nderitu, PDR has not changed its officials but is only in the process of changing its name and symbols.
“UDA is PDR that changed its name, it is not really a new party and the process of name change is still on,” Nderitu said on phone.
She added: “The officials of PDR are the same for UDA unless they change.”
Last month, the office of the Registrar gave notice of intention by the PDR to change its name to UDA, a move that raising speculation that the DP camp was plotting to embrace the party as his vehicle for the election.
In the gazette notice, the party also sought to change its symbol from a bull to a wheelbarrow with Kazi Ni Kazi as its slogan.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 20 (i) of the Political Parties Act, the Registrar of Political Parties gives notice that the Party for Reforms and Development (PDR) intends to effect changes on their particulars,” reads the gazette notice in part.
The wheelbarrow has been the face of the hustler nation empowerment programme headed by the DP that has attracted a lot of criticism from supporters of the Building Bridges Initiative who have accused the DP of waging class wars in the country.
PDR was initially Party of Action (POA) founded by Jubilee Secretary General Raphael Tuju in the run-up to 2013 elections.
It later teamed up with Kenya National Congress (KNC) to form the Eagle Alliance and supported Peter Kenneth as the presidential candidate in the 2013 polls.