Malala clarifies his role in cabinet during his tenure as UDA secretary general
By Mabonga Makhanu, July 15, 2025The interim Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) deputy party leader, Cleophas Malala, has come out to clarify his role during his time as the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) secretary general, particularly regarding his participation in cabinet meetings.
Malala dismissed claims that he was merely a silent invitee during those meetings, stating that his presence had a defined purpose within the government structure.
While appearing on a local radio station on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, Malala explained that he served as a political advisor to the president, specifically on matters tied to the campaign promises made by the Kenya Kwanza administration.
He revealed that he was the custodian of the party’s manifesto and took it upon himself to ensure its implementation.
“I was an advisor, a political advisor to the president on matters monitoring the promises that Kenya Kwanza had made to Kenyans,” Malala stated.
Malala affirmed that during his tenure as secretary general, he had developed a clear implementation framework that tracked the progress of each promise — identifying what had been delivered, what was pending, and what required further attention.
His role, as he described it, was rooted in holding the administration accountable to the commitments it made to the Kenyan people.
“He was a custodian of the Kenya Kwanza manifesto, and I religiously wanted that manifesto to be implemented. As the secretary general, I had implementation metrics for monitoring what had been implemented and what had not or was pending to be implemented,” Malala said.
The fallout
Malala noted that he initially had strong confidence in the president and believed in his willingness to fulfil the pledges made during the campaign period.
However, as time passed and the focus shifted to actual implementation, he began to witness a deviation from those promises.
It was during this phase that tensions began to rise between him and the party, as the expectations he had held were not being met. His discontent grew as key aspects of the manifesto were ignored or sidelined, sparking internal disagreements and ultimately contributing to his shift away from the party’s inner circle.