Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe has explained his decision to leave the UDA party, saying his move was driven by pressure from constituents opposed to President William Ruto and his administration.
Kagombe said his political future depended on listening to the people he represents, arguing that remaining closely aligned with Ruto would conflict with the wishes of voters in Gatundu South.
“What would I be doing as Kagombe with William Ruto if I want to win the Gatundu South seat?” he posed.
The MP said his constituents had told him they had no personal problem with him but were opposed to Ruto and did not want his government.
“I am a representative of the people of Gatundu South. They have told me they have no problem with me but this man, Ruto, hatutaki huyu mtu, hatutaki maneno yake, hatutaki hii serikali,” Kagombe said.
He said an elected leader had a responsibility to reflect the views of constituents, even when those views meant breaking ranks with the government or political party that sponsored them.
“So you ask yourself, why would I lose a seat or fail to represent what the people are saying?” he said.
Kagombe insisted that his decision was not motivated by personal differences with Ruto, but by what he described as the political position of his constituents.
“It’s not personal with Ruto. It’s what the people have said, and the people have a reason why they said it,” he said.
The MP also linked his political stance to his role representing tea farmers.
Kagombe is a director at the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), where he said he had witnessed challenges facing farmers, particularly poor roads connecting tea-growing areas to factories.
He claimed tea farmers had been forced to spend their own resources addressing infrastructure problems that should ordinarily be handled by the government.
“I have appropriated so much money of the farmers’ money to fix the roads where the government has failed to fix,” Kagombe said.
He claimed the government had failed to complete some road projects despite awarding contracts to contractors.
Kagombe alleged some contractors had removed road materials before abandoning projects, leaving farmers and residents struggling to access roads that had previously been usable.
“Government comes and says, ‘We’ll do tarmac for you, we’ll fix these roads for you,’ and then you give a contractor the contracts. They come and remove all the materials and it’s now four years,” he claimed.
The MP said the prolonged delays had frustrated tea farmers, who depend on reliable roads to transport their produce from farms to factories.
He said his political decisions would continue to be guided by the interests of Gatundu South residents and tea farmers, rather than party loyalty.