Gachagua: Why United Opposition will only name candidate next year

“We are not in a hurry. We can only be late in naming that candidate if we do so past the deadline set by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). That deadline is May 15, 2027. Naming that candidate this early will only subject him or her to state persecution,” Mr Gachagua said.

“Ignore all this State machinery propaganda that keeps sponsoring publications declaring that we have already settled on the team to take on President William Ruto. We are too smart for Mr Ruto and his sympathisers. We have settled on no one. What we have is a joint commitment to produce one candidate,” he said.

Read: Who will take on Ruto? Inside lobbying in Opposition for candidate 

The former Deputy President also dismissed claims that he was only rooting for Wiper Patriotic Front's Kalonzo Musyoka to be given the presidential ticket.

“I have not said that. What we have now is a strategy of mobilising our individual voting blocs. But it is also imperative to note that Mt Kenya bloc has several presidential hopefuls, including me in DCP, Mr Musyoka, who represents Mt Kenya South, People Liberation Party's Martha Karua and Democratic Party's Justin Muturi,” he said.

Mr Gachagua said while all the candidates are qualified, they will also face others, including Jubilee Party's Dr Fred Matiang'i, Edwin Sifuna (Linda Mwananchi), Eugene Wamalwa and George Natembeya, who both belong to DAP-K, as well as others expected to join the opposition discourse.

“As one of the principals, my key interest is to endorse myself. But my supporters have told me to exercise open-mindedness and be ready to support the opposition's overall winner in the process of identification. And my obedience is absolute. I will not be the one to scatter opposition unity. I will sacrifice my ambition if need be so as to promote opposition unity,” he said.

Mr Gachagua said the State was monitoring the opposition's plans, seeking ways to make its journey difficult and trying to create an environment of disunity, disillusionment and voter apathy within the opposition fraternity. 

He said the same State was behind rumours that some opposition principals were already negotiating with the government in readiness to decamp.

“But the voters are telling us to stick together and produce one candidate. When we are united but without a joint candidate, we are safer that way. President Ruto would love a situation where he gets to know our candidate so that he can unleash all the vagaries of incumbency against our common plan. We will not fall into that trap,” he said.

He said the tricks the government was employing included the use of violence, corrupting democracy by buying loyalty, as well as propaganda that the opposition would not hold together.

Read: Wamunyoro delegations push for Uhuru-Gachagua deal

“They even openly say they will rig elections, they will infiltrate the opposition and field their loyalists in our parties... They are using goons and rogue police officers to induce fear and despondency within the opposition. Government projects will soon be launching their political parties and declaring opposition that is friendly to the re-election of President Ruto,” he said.

Mr Gachagua said what was more important for the genuine opposition principals was to have the Wantam agenda entrenched in the minds of Kenyans, package it into a solid movement and then create a euphoria that would be difficult to fight.

“That is exactly what I am doing here in the Mountain until July 31. The conversations that I am having with the Mt Kenya bloc are about self-consciousness as a community, as a voting bloc and as a crucial partner in delivering the opposition plan. I am seeking the permission of my community to go to that negotiation table not as a Wamunyoro man but as a patriot ready to cede ground for a perfect plan to bring a new governance order to this country,” he said.

Mr Gachagua noted that the new Constitution made it impossible for one region to win power on its own since the overall winner must garner 50 per cent plus one vote.

“But Mt Kenya, being the biggest single voting bloc, is key to the end result. We are called upon as a region to approach 2027 from a point of cooperation with others. But it must never escape us that the winner of the race is the candidate who will get the numerical strength of all the validly cast votes. The focus is on believable and reliable numbers,” he said.

Mr Gachagua said the opposition must be wary of sponsored divisions in the Mountain and on the national front since even the government knows it can only be kicked out of power through numerical strength.

“Before we name our presidential candidate, we must take cognisance that the competition will be about numbers. You cannot win numbers if you are selfish and individualistic. You cannot go to the negotiation table carrying a superiority complex that it must be you and no one else. Our supporters must remain very vigilant to identify those who are selfish, sponsored to create confusion, as well as agents of division,” he said.

Mr Gachagua said a united opposition had the ability to deliver a more than 70 per cent victory against the incumbent if all agreed to come to the negotiation table with the best interests of Kenya at heart and were flexible enough to accept that numbers would be the measure of victory.

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