The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) has criticised retired President Uhuru Kenyatta after he said he still believes the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga won the 2022 presidential election.
Kenyatta made the remarks on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, during a Jubilee Party meeting in Nairobi, reigniting debate over the disputed 2022 presidential contest. He said he remained convinced that Odinga had won the election despite William Ruto being declared president-elect.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday, UDA Secretary-General Hassan Omar accused Kenyatta of failing to come to terms with the outcome of the election.
Omar said Kenyatta’s remarks amounted to a continued challenge to the outcome of the 2022 presidential election, which was declared in favour of Ruto and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court.
The UDA statement also questioned Kenyatta’s role in the 2022 election, when the former president supported Odinga’s presidential bid under the Azimio la Umoja coalition.
“His comments today – that he ‘still believes’ that the late Prime Minister Raila Odinga won the 2022 election and ‘we all know what happened’ – is the perpetual realization that he totally lost power and is going to lose it in 2027,” Omar said in the statement.
The party further accused the former president of attempting to undermine the electoral process before, during and after the 2022 election.
UDA referred to alleged threats against former Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) chairman Wafula Chebukati and events surrounding the declaration of the presidential results at Bomas of Kenya on August 15, 2022.
The party’s statement alleged that Kenyatta’s administration had sought to influence the outcome of the election, claims that were strongly contested during and after the poll.
Ruto was declared the winner of the August 2022 presidential election by the IEBC after receiving 7,176,141 votes against Odinga’s 6,942,930. The Supreme Court subsequently upheld the presidential election result following petitions challenging the outcome.
UDA also sought to credit Ruto with Kenyatta’s victories in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, when Ruto served as Kenyatta’s running mate.
“Truth be told, Uhuru would not have even won the 2013 and 2017 election were it not for the vigorous campaign mounted by President Ruto, then as his running mate,” Omar said.
The statement comes as political parties and leaders increasingly position themselves ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Kenyatta’s latest remarks have also reopened discussion about the political relationship between him and Ruto, which deteriorated after the 2018 handshake between Kenyatta and Odinga. Kenyatta later backed Odinga in the 2022 presidential election, while Ruto ran on the United Democratic Alliance ticket.
In his remarks on Tuesday, Kenyatta also defended his decision to support Odinga, saying he and other leaders had done what they could to secure an Odinga victory.
UDA, however, maintained that the 2022 election was decisively won by Ruto and accused the retired president of continuing to dispute the result.
