Kalonzo’s big day: Wiper boss unveils plan as opposition pledges unity

In recent weeks, Martha Karua has also received her own nomination from the People’s Liberation Party (PLP)—with many more expected in the near future—underscoring the delicate balancing act ahead.

Each leader commands a regional power base- from Kalonzo’s Eastern bloc to former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua’s and Martha Karua’s mountain bloc, former Cabinet minister Fred Matiang’i’s Gusii and apparent Mt Kenya reach as well as former minister Eugene Wamalwa in the western region. Bringing these forces under one political roof will require a mix of negotiation, trust, and compromise that has historically eluded Kenya’s opposition movements.

During the charged Friday convention and later a political rally at Uhuru Park, the tone of the speakers- respectful, conciliatory, and forward-looking- suggested that all sides understand the stakes.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Musyoka sought to position himself not merely as the opposition’s compromise candidate but as a moral and policy-driven alternative to what he called “a regime that has lost its soul.”

He painted a bleak portrait of Kenya under President William Ruto, from the defunded universities, suffocating taxes, ballooning public debt, and a culture of impunity that he said had eroded the nation’s institutions.

“Education, once the key to opportunity, has become a burden,” he said. “Parents are drowning in debt, teachers demoralised, students uncertain of their future. A government that toys with children’s education has lost its moral compass.”

He accused the administration of weaponising state institutions, capturing Parliament, intimidating the media, and attempting to subvert the judiciary.

“They call it bottom-up economics,” he said. “But what we see is bottomless corruption and top-down greed. It is not an economic plan.  it is an economic funeral.”

Mr Musyoka promised a “patriotic administration” that would restore dignity to schools and universities, create jobs through technology hubs and manufacturing, and revive dormant Vision 2030 projects such as the High Grand Falls Dam.

He vowed to end what he termed “the punitive housing levy,” fund schools adequately, and “restore professionalism, not brutalism,” in employment.

"Government that silences"

Turning to the government’s handling of last year’s youth-led protests, Mr Musyoka condemned police violence against Gen Z demonstrators and invoked the memory of Bridget, a teenager shot dead while watching television at home in Kikuyu.

“A government that silences its own children has lost the right to lead,” he said. “But I tell you — Kenya will rise again. I urge young people to shoot Ruto at the ballot.”

He called the movement to unseat Ruto a moral crusade rather than a political campaign.

“This is not about me,” he said. “It is about your families, your children, and your children’s children. The time for lamentation is over. The moment for change is now.”

A tone of unity also marked the speeches by opposition leaders, many of whom pledged to back “whoever the movement chooses” to lead the coalition.

“We will put aside ambition and interest to save this country,” said former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, “Should the United Opposition choose Kalonzo Musyoka as presidential flagbearer, we will support you. We will walk together in this journey.”

Dr Matiang’i, however, was also quick to temper expectations of a perfectly harmonious front. He acknowledged the tensions and differences that have historically plagued opposition politics, framing them as a sign of intellectual vibrancy, not disunity.

“I want to urge us that building the opposition is a journey. We need to unite regardless of our differences,” he said. “This is a long journey that we are determined to walk together. The goal we have is greater than the sum total of each one of us here.”

“Occasionally we argue, sometimes we have different opinions - that is precisely because we are a group of smart and passionate people who love this country. You do not expect us to be a school choir,” he added. “We are supposed to be a group of people who argue but come together. We will have our differences, but Kenya will be priority number one.”

Dr Matiang’i’s remarks echoed a mood of collective urgency that threaded through the day - a mix of moral indignation and strategic reconciliation - as opposition leaders sought to frame their alliance as a patriotic front against what they described as a failing and deceitful administration.

Martha Karua, leader of the People Liberation Party praised Mr Musyoka’s consistency, calling him “a selfless man” who had “stood with the people of Kenya.”

Read: Mwingi West MP Nguna dumps Kalonzo for Ruto after Gachagua ouster vote fallout

“Ruto, we will not allow you to graduate as a dictator on Kenyan soil,” she said. “You are in a hurry to become like someone else in this region. We have a Constitution we all must follow.”

Former Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa was more direct, insisting that the opposition’s unity was unshakeable: “The reason why we are saying that Ruto is one term is because of the way people have suffered. Those saying we are disunited will have to wait a long time. We are united to make sure William Samoei Ruto goes home.”

But it was former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua who electrified the crowd with a mix of defiance and humour.

“We will have one leader to face off with Kasongo,” he said, apparently mocking Ruto’s inner circle. “If we arrive that Kalonzo Musyoka will be the flagbearer, I myself and my one million supporters will support him. I will campaign for him.”

Mr Gachagua, in an unusually biting critique of his former boss also derided President Ruto’s credentials-  “his degree is about leaves and plants”- accusing him of destroying the economy “and killing our youth.” He declared the 2027 race a contest between “two horses — Ruto and the One Term Movement,” warning that “anyone outside it is an enemy of Kenyans.”

For a movement long plagued by rivalry and mistrust, even rhetorical alignment marks a shift. There is also an emerging consensus around Mr Musyoka that has not gone unnoticed within the ruling coalition.

President Ruto’s allies have in recent months quietly reached out to Mr Musyoka, seeking to lure him into their fold with offers of partnership or reconciliation — a sign of how pivotal his support base has become in Kenya’s shifting political landscape.

Mr Gachagua dismissed the overtures by Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, insisting that he is the official spokesperson of the cousin’s family.

“I am the family spokesperson of the cousins. I have seen William Ruto sending Kindiki to talk to Kalonzo. I am the only spokesperson, so I tell you William Ruto, come through me and come to Wamunyoro. We will talk facing the mountain. I do not lose in any election. I have studied the politics in this country,” Mr Gachagua said.

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