My name is not on the ballot but I will still be in Parliament: says bullish Cate Waruguru

Laikipia Woman Representative Cate Waruguru is confident that she will be sitting in the next Parliament after the August General Election is set and done, this is despite falling short in the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party nominations held in April.

In the primaries, Waruguru was floored by her main rival, incumbent Laikipia East MP Amin Deddy, who garnered 12,723 votes against her measly 5,595 votes.  

Despite maintaining that the primaries were not conducted in a transparent manner, Waruguru underlined that there are many ways to get into Parliament, hinting that she could possibly be nominated as an MP by the DP William Ruto-led party.

“Haikuwa haki ata kidogo kwa sababu zangu ambazo sitazungumza kwa mapana lakini nimesema udanganyifu na ulaghai uliweza kufanyika katika party primaries,” she said in an interview on KTN News on Friday.  

“Jina langu halitakuwa kwa ballot lakini ntafika bunge kabla ya wale wanaenda kwa mchujo. Kuna njia tofauti sana za kufika katika bunge. Mchezo wa Laikipia haujaisha, muhimu ni mimi nikuwe katika bunge la kumi na tatu.”

When asked why she didn’t take the independent route after losing in the UDA primaries, the Laikipia Woman Representative underscored that she did not want her personal aspirations to interfere with her main objective, which is to get DP Ruto into State House.

She likewise chimed in on why she wasn’t handed a direct ticket in the primaries despite her status as one of DP Ruto’s staunchest supporters, noting that she was not short changed by the party, which she says was very strategic on how it identified direct nomination candidates.

Following her loss at the primaries, Deddy will now battle it out with former Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri at the ballot who will be vying on a TSP party ticket.

Waruguru does not however intend to drum up support for either of the aforementioned candidates despite both being members of the larger Kenya Kwanza alliance.

“Hakuna yeyote yule ambaye nitasaidia. Mimi niko katika presidential campaign natafutia William Ruto kura,” she said.