Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s long time friend and ‘bouncer’ Bill Arocho has officially defected from the Jubilee Party, to President William Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance, UDA Party.
Arocho who served as Uhuru’s ‘bodyguard’ for several years made the announcement on Monday July 24, during a press briefing at the UDA headquarters in Nairobi, and which was hosted by the UDA Party secretary general Cleophas Malala.
In his remarks, Arocho termed President Ruto as his personal friend.
“Today I have officially joined UDA Party. I joined UDA because President Ruto is a friend, he was my deputy party leader and is a personal friend; and also because of the ministers who were appointed like Moses Kuria and Kipchumba Murkomen,” he said.
In a December 2022 interview with Nairobi News, Arocho revealed that he was quitting on providing private security for important leaders, more than 20 years on the job.
Before the 2022 presidential elections, Arocho was seen attending the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s campaign meetings which was in line with Uhuru’s decision to support Raila to succeed him.
However, as soon as Ruto was declared the winner, Arocho announced his loyalty to the president, despite Raila, Narc Kenya Party leader Martha Karua and other leaders allied to the Azimio wing maintained that Raila’s votes were stolen in favour of Ruto.
The UDA party has been staging registration exercises across the country, with Malala saying the party is aimed at registering at least 15 million voters by 2027 presidential elections.
All eyes will now be directed to Arocho on whether he will be eyeing any political position in the 2027 polls, or he will resume his job of offering private security to important people.
by: Ryndy