Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i is on Friday, May 2, set to make a ‘homecoming tour’ of his Gusii backyard, and is expected to make roadside stopovers and speeches ahead of what is expected to be a 2027 presidential bid announcement later this year.
The anticipated visit by Dr Matiang’i has raised excitement among the people of Gusii, a region which comprises Kisii and Nyamira counties.
Dr Matiang’i, a powerful minister in President Uhuru Kenyatta's regime, had been out of the public limelight, but talk of a possible presidential run has, every once in a while, hit social media platforms.
The tour will include roadside stopovers at Kijauri, Keroka, Keumbu, Kisii Town and Nyamira, where Dr Matiang’i is expected to confirm to his supporters that he is indeed aspiring for the presidency in the 2027 election.
“The ‘Team Matiang’i Secretariat', responsible for coordinating the engagements of our leader, is pleased to inform the public that the former Cabinet Secretary will make his first public appearance this Friday in the Gusii region,” reads a press release dispatched to newsrooms on Thursday.
The tour is meant to mobilise the Gusii electorate to rally behind Dr Matiang’i before he presents his political credentials to other communities.
Top leaders from the Gusii region, including those elected on former prime minister Raila Odinga’s ODM ticket – currently part of President William Ruto’s Broad-based government- are set to flank Dr Matiang’i in his tour, Kisii Governor Simba Arati and Nyamira's Amos Nyaribo, Senators Richard Onyonka and Okong’o Omogeni, Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi, Kitutu Masaba MP Clive Gisairo among others.
Top leaders meet in Nairobi to shape opposition ahead of 2027
Photo credit: Pool
Apart from the roadside stop overs, the Friday tour will include official courtesy visits to the offices of Governors Arati and Mr Nyaribo.
The Nation has learnt that Dr Matiang’i met several Gusii elected leaders twice on April 22 and 24 in Nairobi to strategise for his grand entry into the region and commencement of his engagement with the people tours.
The two meetings resolved to end the political bickering that has been ensuing between leaders in both Nyamira and Kisii counties.
These are the wrangles between Governor Nyaribo and Nyamira Members of County Assembly and Senator Omogeni; as well as the bad blood between Governor Arati and Senator Onyonka.
“This will be purely a Gusii affair. It is our son coming home,” clarified UPA National Chairman Nyambega Gisesa when asked about the possible attendance of other opposition leaders.
Last Tuesday, Dr Matiang’i attended a breakfast meeting with opposition leaders, including Kalonzo Musyoka, former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, former defence minister Eugene Wamalwa, 2013 presidential candidate Martha Karua, former Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi and former Public Service CS Justin Muturi.
“Dr Matiang’i believes that the upcoming election can only be won through listening to every voice. Every Kenyan matters,” said Mr Gisesa.
Both the Jubilee Party and the UPA have in the past seemed to scramble for Dr Matiang’i to vie on their platform.
Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni has even toured the Gusii region twice to drum up support for Dr Matiang’i, even as he announced that he will be running on his party’s ticket.
But the UPA’s Gisesa told the Nation that “the UPA will form a pre-election agreement with the Jubilee party and other people”.
Last month, a section of elders from the region, led by former Kisii County Assembly Speaker David Kombo, endorsed Dr Matiang’i’s presidential ambition.
“We see in him the image of the late Dr John Magufuli of Tanzania, who pulled his country out of decades of misgovernance and put the East African nation into an economic trajectory,” said Thomas Otoro in Suneka.
Joseph Ogoti from Nyanchwa in Kisii town pointed out, “We are excited about this man. Matiang’i will be East Africa’s Traore and we hope he’s borrowing the leaf from these leaders like late Thomas Sankara and Ghana’s Jerry Rawlings.”
“Dr Matiang’i has what it takes to put Kenya on the world map, fix poor governance and set Kenya’s economy on the recovery path,” said Johnson Obure from Itumbe.
“Where we have reached, Kenya needs a Magufuli-like president who will confront the myriad political, economic and governance problems to restore discipline and accountability in government,” said Peter Otomwa, a hawker in Kisii town.
Last Sunday, politicians from President Ruto’s UDA party presided over a church fundraiser in Marani, Kisii County, in what is now seen as an attempted move aimed at dissuading residents against the growing wave of the former CS.
Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, a confidant of the president, used the occasion to pour cold water on the presidential ambition of Dr Matiang’i.
“Leave that man (Matiang’i) alone. He came from America and has not said anything yet, you are cheering him up. He knows what they did for this country together with former President Uhuru Kenyatta. Hold your horses,” Mr Sudi said.
He went on: “He has come to greet his grandmother and parents, yet you are cheering him up. I know you have been in opposition for long and this is the first time you have had a government (UDA) so close to you”.
Even as Dr Matiang’i commences his meet-the-people tours in Gusii this weekend, President Ruto has scheduled a whirlwind tour of the neighbouring Migori County on Sunday and Monday.
Following his rapprochement with ODM leader, Mr Odinga, the president has made several trips to Nyanza region in what is seen as a strategy to court a region that never voted for him in 2022.
President Ruto has since lost key allies from the Mt Kenya region which overwhelmingly voted for him in 2022.
