United Democratic Forum Blog

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi has said that if elected President under the United Democratic Forum Party (UDFP), his government will not be inclined to pursuing politics of revenge on the former holders of the seat. Speaking at Masinde Muliro Gardens in Kakamega County for the first time after ditching the Orange Democratic Movement – (ODM) for the UDFP, Mudavadi said he had the key to the presidency just as he had for the Vice President docket for Luhyas and that if elected. He said despite being the VP for only two months, after his stint, there have been successive...

Sure we all have grievances to air and if you are Kenyan you should, after all this beautiful country of ours is far from perfect. There seems to be one problem after another; land deals gone wrong, the stock exchange taking a nasty dip, the shilling hitting an all time low against foreign currencies, loan interest rates are as high as they never have been, price of basic commodities is going through the ceiling the list is endless. Sure our independence was attained through “violence” and we would probably have been a British a colony for a very long time...

The 30th day of April 2012 is an will be a date with destiny for many political parties and politicians therein intending to vie in the coming general election, thanks to the Political parties Act. One only needs to look at the act, to realize how important this piece of legislation is today in the political landscape of Kenya. Parties that will have complied with the act and qualify for full registration are those which will have recruited, not fewer than one thousand registered voters from each of more than half of the counties as its members; A list of...

After major speculations, the Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi has formally declared his new political move. Mudavadi has picked United Democratic Forum (UDF) Party as his preferred party on which he will contest the next General Elections. Mudavadi has officially declared that he has broken ties with the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and has joined UDF Party, his party of choice. After intensive consultations with various key people from different walks of life,  Mudavadi said he has finally considered a party whose vision is consistent to his aspirations for the Kenyan people. "I, Musalia Mudavadi, wish to announce that I...

“All work without play makes jack a dull boy”…A cliché it may be but seriously what’s happening to our children? They are no longer allowed to be children; they no longer have leisure time. All they do is work; probably harder than most adults, even adults have time off and have even allocated money in their budget for entertainment. Have you left your house at 5-5:30 a.m. recently during a school term? Aren’t you surprised by the number of children out on the roads, the lucky ones waiting for the school buses the rest waiting for public transportation? Then comes...

United Democratic Forum (UDF) Party is now a fully registered party ahead of the General Elections. While presenting the UDF party leaders with the registration certificate, the Registrar of Political Parties confirmed that UDF Party met the full requirements as stipulated by the Political Parties Act. The Party Officials reiterated that they are well in the positioned the race to form the next government. This marks the beginning of a journey that will see a new dawn in the Kenyan politics“UDF Party provides leadership that is led by integrity, an alternative leadership that will deliver a Healthy and Wealthy nation come...

  For Kenya to move forward from where we are today, we need visionary leaders, leaders who are focused on positive politics. For a long time now, Kenyans are yearning for change. According to Hon. Nderitu Muriithi, Member of Parliament for Laikipia West and Assistant Minister for Industrialization, Kenyans need leadership with ideas for growth of the economy and ways to better their living standards. Speaking at Citizen TV on Power Breakfast on Tuesday morning Nderitu gave a clear background on how the government together with the private sector is ensuring that more and more Kenyans are able to sustain themselves...

“We want a change in Kenya.” This seems to be the main aspiration for the Kenyan youth aspiring for political leadership. 60 youths from various counties in the country have converged for a three day workshop dubbed “Get informed, Get Involved” an initiative of Youth Agenda and Amkeni Wakenya. Speaking at the launch of the workshop, Youth Agenda coordinator Kevin Osido challenged the youths to stand up and be counted. “It’s time we involved ourselves in making stable and dependable systems for this country. For a long time young people did not have positions in political parties, this is a new...

Members of Parliament from the Coffee growing zones have presented their implications following the suspension of the coffee auction.  The MPs retaliated that this is the period that the coffee prices are at the highest as it is the main sale of the main crop that the market has been waiting for, so the closure frustrates the realization of the high prices.Led by Hon. Kabando wa Kabando of Mukurweini constituency, Kabando noted that the auction will deny the country the much needed foreign exchange. He added that a quick look at the last 3 sales revealed that in just two weeks,...

It was relief for 28 mothers who were held at the city's Pumwani maternity  hospital for defaulting after their bills were cleared by a women organization ,Women Focus in a rare gesture of philanthropy. It  is located in the east side of Nairobi and is surrounded by the low-income residential areas of Eastleigh, Mathare, Muthurwa, and Majengo.The women's   focus   forum spent 250,000 shillings to have the new mothers allowed to leave the health facility and meet their families. According to the forum's chair lady Anne Githinji ,the move was in celebration of the international women's day that was being celebrated yesterday ...

UDF Party claims 30% of the national budget is pocketed by influential personalities within the government. Speaking in Thika, key founder members of the party, Industrialization assistant minister Ndiritu Muriithi (Laikipia West) and Ndaragwa legislator, Jeremiah Kioni said Kenya is economically stagnated while 11million youth remained unemployed because tax payer’s money that would have reversed these unfortunate situations ended in the pockets of a few politically and influentially connected people in an outside the government.Muriithi said the government should set aside Kshs. 50billion to jump start the stalled over 1,000 polytechnics in the country to absorb unemployed youth, give them training...

This is to bring to your attention the fact that United Democratic Forum Party (UDF Party) is missing among the provisionally registered political parties (awaiting compliance with the Political Parties Act) as published on the Daily Nation 28th February, 2012. This comes as a shock to the party since it has in its possession the registration certificate and registration number as party number 0048. UDF Party is working tirelessly to ensure that it beats the end of April deadline to be fully compliant with the law. We do consider ourselves a serious political party just as the other 51 published....

The role of religion in Kenya cannot be overstated. Even before the coming of the Europeans and their Christian religion and the Arabs with Islam, the existent faiths of the African traditional societies was as strong and deeply involved in the day to day lives of the people. Religion continues to play these roles and many more. When a child is born, apart from the influences of the nucleus and extended families, religion comes in second as the teacher and moulder of the young one. The knowledge of what is right and wrong, the acknowledgement of a deity and the belief...

ETHNICITY/TRIBALISM Since independence in 1963 Kenya has faced many challenges including food shortages, political violence, bad governance, economic crises and denial of personal freedoms. One huge contributing factor to all these problems is tribalism. This vice led to weakened public institutions and therefore poor governance. Tribalism also led to poor service delivery both in the public and private sector. Hatred and malice has thrived as we pull in different directions despite facing the same problems. Consequently, our country continues to experience slow progress in comparison with nations living in ethnic harmony, it is for the good of all of us that...

Ethnicity is the heightened awareness of belonging to a group defined by common ancestry, culture, language or geographical area. Negative ethnicity in Kenya may be traced back to the colonial and post colonial periods. The colonialists took advantage of the different cultures and languages that existed amongst the many tribes by amplifying these differences for selfish gain. The divide & rule system of governance that was later exploited by subsequent regimes came into being. Through the perpetration of stereotypes & assigning of labels to different tribes, the colonialists managed to turn tribes against each other to the detriment of national cohesion....

  A successful society is characterized by a rising living standard for its population, increasing investment in factories and basic infrastructure, and the generation of additional surplus, which is invested in generating new discoveries in science and technology. Improving engineering requires 2.5 billion per year. We cannot industrialize without engineers. The industrialization and manufacturing sectors are the only sectors that sustain jobs created the elements of forex supply chains.  To create meaningful and sustainable jobs we have to industrialize. Ensuring that every child gets to form four requires a total of 74 billion in the first 4 years. This alone improves...

In Kenya, youth unemployment is a serious development issue. It is estimated that 64% of unemployed persons in Kenya are youth. Interestingly only 1.5% of the unemployed youth have formal education beyond secondary school level and the remaining over 92% have no vocational or professional skills training and the majority are found in rural Kenya. Due to inadequate employment and livelihood opportunities in rural areas the tendency is that they migrate to urban centers to look for such opportunities. Kenyan economy heavily depends on Agriculture (30% of GDP), which is basically a rural-oriented sector. Surprisingly, Kenyan agriculture is still labor-intensive...

  As political campaigns gather pace for the next election, one thing is certain, many Kenyans are keenly watching and waiting to be wooed by the parties before they make up their mind. A recent poll by the Institute for Development at Nairobi University states that 42% of Kenyans are yet to make up their mind on which party to vote for in the next election, this indicates that the votes could swing either way and that the parties previously considered as the main contenders, that is PNU and ODM can no longer dismiss the new and upcoming political parties....

UDF Party seeks to restructure the way we conduct politics and economy in Kenya in a way that is reminiscent of the Kenyan dream. A party is driven by ideals that ensure the prosperity for all. Below is an outline of what is possible in the general realm of National Development ECONOMIC CHALLENGES • 10.5 million Kenyans are unemployed and the number continues to increase by 600,000 Kenyans a year. • Bread costs 2 ½ times what it should. • You pay 3 ½ times for a unit of electricity compared to Rwanda. • Urban workers spend half their daily income...

Following a UDF Party forum with opinion leaders and residents of Kisumu and Kakamega party officials were able to identify some of the key issues that are close to the residents’ hearts and also gave the party’s recommendations. The Forum was held on 1st and 2nd of February respectively. It is apparent that residents of Kisumu and Kakamega are tired with how politics have been conducted in the past and even presently. They used two words to describe it: “Euphoric”, and “stagnant propaganda”. The politics in these areas has continuously remained more rhetoric and less action. The current political parties are...