From left: Tracy Wanjiru, DP William Ruto and Jephanei Orina. [File, Standard]

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) says it rejected the applications by two people seeking the party’s ticket in presidential election because they had not met minimum qualifications to be granted the ticket.

The two were Tracy Wanjiru, a 23-year-old student of JKUAT, and Jephanei Orina, a resident of Kisii County. Wanjiru is pursuing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Bioengineering.

Speaking at the Moi International Sports Complex, Kasarani, where UDA held its National Delegates Conference today, the party’s Secretary-General Veronica Maina said only Ruto had met the minimum qualifications.

“On February 2, 2022, the UDA Party, through a notice, invited interested members to apply to be the party’s presidential aspirant or candidate. The party received three applications. One by Ms Tracy Wanjiru; a person living with disability, and is from Kiambu County, another one [by] Mr Jephanei Orina from Kisii County, and one more application from Dr William Ruto,” said Maina.

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“On March 12, the Party invited all interested applicants to attend verification and interviews to determine the eligibility and qualifications of the candidates, and also determine whether they were suitable to carry out the application they had made to the UDA.

“Upon conducting the said-interviews, the National Elections Board rejected the applications of Mr Jephanei Orina for noncompliance with the Party’s nomination rules. The application by Ms Tracy Wanjiru was also rejected for noncompliance with the Elections Act Number 11 of 2022 because she did not possess the academic credentials.

“In the circumstances, the party is now seized with one application by Dr William Samoei Ruto as the only qualified contestant for the party’s presidential candidate,” said Maina.

Nearly 5,000 delegates unanimously endorsed Deputy President William Ruto’s presidential bid under the UDA ticket, paving way for the DP to pick his running mate.

Ruto claimed UDA has at least seven million members countrywide and was receptive of all hustlers across the nation.