By Kepher Otieno - Reporter
Kenya, 4 January 2026 - As the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) moves to wrap up its grassroots elections, party leaders are increasingly leaning on opinion polling to counter growing claims that its influence in Mount Kenya is waning.
Mathira Member of Parliament Eric Wamumbi’s assertion that UDA remains the region’s most popular party reflects a broader effort by the ruling party to project stability and dominance at a time of heightened political competition.
Recent opinion polls indicate that UDA continues to lead in national party preference, maintaining an edge over its closest rivals despite a crowded political field.
While the ruling party does not command majority support, it still emerges as the single most popular political outfit, reinforcing Wamumbi’s argument that the task ahead is not recovery but consolidation.
The surveys suggest that UDA’s support base, though solid, exists alongside a significant portion of voters who remain undecided or unattached to any political party, pointing to a fluid and competitive political environment.
In Mount Kenya, long regarded as a critical political battleground, UDA’s strategy appears focused on strengthening internal structures rather than winning over new converts.
The high turnout in the ongoing grassroots elections, including more than 3,000 registrants in Mathira Constituency alone, underscores the party’s emphasis on organisation and mobilisation.
In electing representatives at the polling-station level and building upwards through ward, constituency and county structures, UDA is seeking to entrench its presence from the ground up ahead of future electoral contests.
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Wamumbi has also linked the party’s popularity to the performance of the UDA-led government, arguing that delivery on key campaign promises has helped sustain public support.
He pointed to interventions such as reduced fertilizer prices, affordable housing projects, job creation initiatives, universal health coverage and timely school funding as evidence that the government is meeting voter expectations.
This performance-based narrative is central to UDA’s attempt to retain loyalty in regions where economic pressures and political realignments continue to shape public opinion.
However, the polling data also points to a more complex reality.
While UDA leads its competitors, the margins are not overwhelming, and voter allegiance remains far from settled. This means that claims of enduring dominance, particularly in Mount Kenya, rest as much on effective mobilisation and internal unity as on raw popularity figures.
As grassroots elections conclude in Mount Kenya and the Rift Valley, UDA’s challenge will be to convert organisational strength into sustained political support.
The polls may place the party ahead for now, but the broader picture suggests a political landscape that remains open, competitive and highly sensitive to performance, messaging and emerging alternatives.
