Blow to Kingi as 300 PAA Kilifi mobilisers move to ODM

PAA Secretary General and Ganze MP Kenneth Kazungu Tungule welcomes a new member to the party in Mtwapa, Kilifi County on February 3, 2026. [Nehemiah Okwembah, Standard]

Senate Speaker Amason Kingi has suffered a political blow after more than 300 Pamoja African Alliance (PAA) grassroots mobilisers dumped his political party to join the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

The mobilisers, led by PAA National Executive Council (NEC) member Elizabeth Muthoka, were received by Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro at his official residence on Wednesday.

They said they were happy to leave the PAA party as it had nothing meaningful to offer them.

Ms Muthoka said that sidelining, mistreatment, and unfulfilled promises at the PAA party are some of the reasons that forced them to ditch it for ODM.

‘’We have a lot of bitterness because the PAA party did not meet our expectations. They duped us by promising us that through the party we will get development, including road construction,’’ she said.

Muthoka also accused PAA Secretary General and Ganze MP Kazungu Tungule of not meeting their welfare in the party and fueling tribal politics.

‘’The PAA party leader has not been meeting our welfare. So we don’t see the need for us abandoning national political parties that have brought all tribes together and follow a grassroots party that propagates tribal politics,” she said.

Last week, Tungule said that although PAA is a national party, it represents the interests of the Coast and hence the vehicle for residents of Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River, Lamu and Taita Taveta counties.

He said the party was planning a delegates conference on February 13 to kick off voter mobilisation in a bid to strengthen it ahead of the 2027 polls.

Tungule said PAA was ready to compete with other parties for other seats other than that of the President.

Recently, PAA got a boost when former Gender Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa defected to the party from United Democratic Alliance (UDA) but vowed to support President William Ruto’s bid for a second term in office.

Meanwhile, Muthoka urged other PAA party members to follow suit and ditch the party, saying there is nothing good they would benefit from it.

Muthoka also asked President Ruto to consider the dissolution of affiliated regional parties into UDA to create a single, dominant political vehicle ahead of the 2027 general election. She claimed that regional parties will not deliver his political ambition.

‘’They should not lie to the President that they are selling him here in Kilifi. We know the Coast region is an ODM camp. As ODM, we will campaign for his re-election, ‘’ she said.

While faulting the party’s promises, which they say have not been fruitful, the mobilisers stressed that they were detaching from PAA politics and no longer wanted anything to do with it.

They decried that the party’s lack of consideration had erased their hope, resulting in their defection.