Democratic Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa has sensationally claimed that former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko’s newly launched National Economic Developmental Party (NEDP) has been created to counter the influence of the Wiper Party in Ukambani.
Wamalwa said that Mike Sonko’s party, together with the Maendeleo Chap Chap Party led by Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, has been designed to divide the Ukambani region in order to stop Kalonzo Musyoka, who is being viewed as a potential flag bearer for the United Opposition and has huge support from the eastern region.
He went further to claim that Sonko was part of a wider scheme by President William Ruto to scuttle the opposition targeting strongholds of key opposition leaders.
Wamalwa spoke during an interview in one of the FM radio stations.
Sonko received the NEDP certificate of registration on Tuesday, December 9, at the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) headquarters in Westlands, Nairobi, in a move signalling the recovery of his political career.
“In Ukambani, the party that was recently launched by Mike Sonko, together with the Alfred Mutua party, wants to use it so as to divide the Ukambani region,”Wamalwa stated.
He said similar plans have been hatched and are being pursued in every region where opposition-aligned parties enjoy significant support.
He cited his own DAP-K party, claiming that the President is also working to hamper its influence in the Western Kenya region by using proxies to register splinter parties.
As an example, he mentioned the Democratic National Party (DNA) led by Barrack Muluka, which fielded a candidate in the Malava by-election. The candidate had previously been in DAP-K but defected to DNA after Seth Panyako was awarded a direct nomination.
Eugene further cited Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale’s party, which he launched in July and dubbed the United Patriotic Movement (UPM). Who, after launching it, left it to be run by university students and announced that he would use it for his 2027 gubernatorial bid.
Sonko has come out to defend his latest political move, insisting that it was within his constitutional right to register a political party noting that his new party was born to further his ambitions, rather than being used to divide votes.
“Those who say I’m being used need to stop. I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ll mention it again. I’m a Kenyan, and it is my democratic right to set up a political party,” Sonko said.
