NAIROBI, 22nd Sept 2026 – The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has dismissed former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s remarks that the 2022 presidential election was rigged in favour of President William Ruto, saying Kenyatta owes his two terms to Ruto.
In a scathing press statement released Tuesday evening, UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar said Kenyatta would not have won the 2013 and 2017 elections were it not for the vigorous campaign mounted by Ruto as his running mate.
Omar was responding to Kenyatta’s remarks earlier on Monday during the handover of Jubilee Party leadership to former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i at the party’s headquarters in Nairobi.
Kenyatta had claimed that the 2022 election was “highly rigged” and that his preferred candidate, the late Raila Odinga, was the actual winner.
“Mimi najua nani alishinda uchaguzi wa 2022. Tunajua vile mambo yalienda. Mimi sikuwa kwa ballot, ni Raila Odinga. Sikushindwa,” Kenyatta said.
He added: “Tulifanya kila kitu kumsaidia Baba awe Rais wa Jamhuri yetu ya Kenya. Na kura akapata, na mimi mpaka wa leo najua ya kwamba yeye ndiye alishinda hiyo kura. Tunajua vile mambo ilienda, na hatutaki iende hivyo tena.”
Kenyatta officially endorsed Matiang’i as Jubilee’s presidential candidate for the 2027 General Election, saying he will remain in the party as a senior advisor.
“I will be a senior advisor in Jubilee, then my younger brother climbs up, takes the leadership, so we can organise the work for 2027,” he said.
But UDA described Kenyatta’s remarks as a sign he has never healed from defeat.
“Clearly, Uhuru has never healed from the humiliating defeat that he occasioned Raila in the hands of President William Ruto, even after employing State machinery. President William Ruto won the 2022 election decisively and conclusively,” the statement reads in part.
Omar claimed that Kenyatta’s “unconstitutional shenanigans to subvert the will of Kenyans before, during and after that election are known and recorded for posterity, including the disappearance of Kenyans who were committed to UDA, the threats to IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati and the FINAL ACT at Bomas of Kenya on August 15, 2022, which collapsed.”
“President William Ruto conclusively won the 2022 election and defeated Uhuru’s illegal, devious and evil plans,” Omar said, warning that Ruto will win resoundingly in 2027.
“The pain visibly seen in Uhuru is manifest that he is still yet to come to terms with the devastating loss he suffered with his project in 2022. Let him prepare for more humiliation come 2027,” he said.
The UDA response came hours after sharp reactions from a section of leaders, with ODM’s Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina blasting Kenyatta for what he termed an untimely revelation.
“Uhuru, you were the President, Commander-in-Chief, controlled the state and handed over power. The IEBC declared it, and the Supreme Court upheld it. So why the hell are you telling us now that Raila won?” Ole Kina posted on X. “You were the man in charge then. Some of us nearly paid a personal price with our lives.”
Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, a close ally of President Ruto, also questioned the timing, saying Kenyatta had “woken from a deep slumber from political uncertainty.”
The IEBC declared Ruto the winner of the 2022 election with 7,176,141 votes against Odinga’s 6,942,930. The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Martha Koome upheld the results after dismissing petitions challenging the outcome.
