Kaloleni MP Gunga Mwinga abandons Kadu Asili party

Kaloleni MP Gunga Mwinga (centre) declares his defection to a new party, Devolution Party of Kenya on March 22, 2017. With him are elections board chairman Hassan Mmbetsa (left) and Fuad Kombe, an aspirant for Malindi Constituency. PHOTO | GITONGA MARETE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Mwinga has defected from Kadu Asili to the Devolution Party of Kenya.
  • He is the chairman and party leader.

Kaloleni MP and Coast Parliamentary Group chairman Gunga Mwinga has defected from Kadu Asili to the Devolution Party of Kenya.

He is the chairman and party leader.

Addressing a press conference in Mombasa, Mr Mwinga, who is the only MP elected to parliament through Kadu Asili, said he had decided to leave the party because “it has lost direction and is now rudderless and operating on an auto-pilot.”

"I could not continue leading a party that wants to remain local…I have tried to cut a national figure for the party but it seems some of the officials have turned it into a family affair which does not augur well with the aspirations of members,” he said.

“I have personally championed for equitable distribution of national and county government resources specifically at the coast and I will continue doing so,” he added.

Mr Mwinga said he would defend his Kaloleni seat on the DPK party ticket of which he is the leader and chairman.

Asked whether the party was aligned to either Jubilee Party (JP) or National Super Alliance (Nasa), the MP said this decision would be made by members.

“At the moment DPK will not campaign for any Presidential aspirant but will concentrate on mobilising and registering members. After that we will call a convention and ask the members who they wish to support for the Presidential vote,” he said.

Chairman of the elections board Hassan Mmbetsa said they had invited aspirants from across the country to seek nomination through the party.

“We are giving the aspirants direct tickets because we don’t want to subject them to nominations yet there is little time remaining before the elections. But we will first subject them to strict vetting for which we have set stringent rules to ensure those who are given the ticket deserve them,” he said.