Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka addresses the congregation during a church service at Christian Dominion Ministries in Kasarani on December 7, 2025.
It is now the turn of Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka to court the support of the international community as he steps up efforts to deny President William Ruto a second and final term in office.
Mr Musyoka will jet out of the country on Tuesday for a tour of the United States of America.
Top of Mr Musyoka’s agenda in the US is sprucing up his international image, bolstering his campaign war chest and drawing the world’s attention to local politics at a time when the government has been accused of clamping down on civil liberties.
Politicians and officials close to Mr Musyoka have also said he is seeking to meet senior officials in the US government.
Last July, as part of this reinvention within the United Opposition, DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua toured the US where he took time to engage with Kenyans in the diaspora during town hall meetings in Dallas, California, Seattle, Boston and Baltimore.
During the month-long trip, Mr Gachagua presented a case against the Kenya Kwanza regime, at a time when emotions were still running high among his supporters, following his impeachment the previous year.
Meanwhile, Mr Musyoka's handlers have said the Wiper party leader will also be seeking international legitimacy for the Oppositions presidential election ticket.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua speaks to the media at JKIA in Nairobi on July 9, 2025 before leaving the country for a trip to the USA.
Mr Musyoka will arrive in Washington, the seat of US power, in time for the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol Rotunda on February 5.
The National Prayer Breakfast is a high-level forum that is usually draws more than 3,000 selected participants, including Heads of State, senior diplomats, policymakers, and faith leaders from around the world.
Mr Musyoka's inclusion, his handlers say, reinforces his long-standing presence within Kenyan and international political networks.
During his visit, Mr Musyoka is also expected to meet with Kenyan diaspora communities in Maryland and Virginia.
He will also hold a series of meetings with US officials and Kenyan professionals abroad, with a focus on governance, regional affairs, and mobilising support for his 2027 bid.
According to sources familiar with his programme, the former Vice President is also scheduled to meet officials of President Donald Trump’s administration as well as individuals associated with the President’s political establishment.
However, by Saturday evening Mr Musyoka’s team was yet to confirm the names of those lined up for the US tour.
Regarding the possibility of meeting President Trump, Ms Paloma Gatabaki, Wiper party’s head of communications, said: “He’s been invited by the House leadership. But of course you expect unscheduled meetings on the side-lines.”
These engagements are intended to strengthen Mr Musyoka’s high-level political contacts and expand his international support base as the 2027 race draws closer.
Meanwhile, Makueni Senator Daniel Maanzo said that the Washington visit was strategically anchored in the long-standing international networks that Mr Musyoka has built.
“Kalonzo Musyoka has many friends in the US. He was part of the team that founded the National Prayer Breakfast in 2003 (in Kenya). He will be using the opportunity to reconnect with his old friends, especially diplomats and Heads of State,” Mr Maanzo said.
Organised by Congress, the National Prayer Breakfast brings together US Presidents, lawmakers and various leaders, including those invited from other countries, for fellowship and prayer.
Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka addresses mourners during the burial of JM Kariuki's third wife, Terry Kariuki, in Gitari, Gilgil, Nakuru County on November 11, 2025.
Mr Maanzo described the forum as a rare diplomatic convergence that few political platforms can match.
“The National Prayer Breakfast in the US brings together over 3,000 guests from across the world. As a presidential candidate, the ability to forge relations with other countries is important. Mr Musyoka will also use the opportunity to rally international friends around his bid to change and transform Kenya if elected President in 2027,” Mr Maanzo added.
Mr Maanzo also said Mr Musyoka will engage African leaders and diplomats in specialised breakout sessions.
“There will be African chapters where Heads of State and diplomats meet. This will be a good session for Mr Musyoka to catch up with them and network,” he said.
African Heads of State expected at the event include President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and President Mamadi Doumbouya of Guinea.
Mr Musyoka is also expected to meet US Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a key player in regional diplomacy who brokered the 2018 political handshake between former President Uhuru Kenyatta and then opposition leader the late Raila Odinga.
On Sunday, ahead of the visit, Mr Musyoka will hold a live virtual engagement with Kenyans in the diaspora. He will use the forum to address issues of national importance, outline the opposition’s policy positions and respond to concerns affecting citizens living abroad.
The online interview will also seek to broaden Mr Musyoka’s reach beyond physical town halls, signalling an effort to inclusively engage Kenyans across continents while consolidating diaspora support as a political and economic force ahead of the 2027 elections.
Mr Musyoka’s tour of the US comes at a time key opposition figures are increasingly turning the US into a political staging ground.
Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has recently held engagements with Kenyan professionals across major US cities, while People’s Liberation Party leader Martha Karua also toured the country last year.
The renewed scramble for the diaspora reflects its growing economic and political clout.
For Mr Musyoka, the US tour is expected to position him as a statesman capable of engaging global leaders, opening fundraising channels beyond the reach of domestic political pressure, and tapping into a diaspora community that increasingly shapes opinion back home through remittances and digital platforms.
In 2024, Kenyans living in the US accounted for 53.17 per cent of about Sh638 billion in remittances sent home – making the US Kenya’s single largest source of foreign exchange inflows from abroad.
According to Central Bank of Kenya estimates, diaspora remittances surpassed Sh650 billion in 2023, overtaking tea and coffee combined as the country’s top foreign income earner.
Kalonzo Musyoka (left) and DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua attend the Wiper Patriotic Front National Delegates Convention (NDC) at Uhuru Park in Nairobi on October 10, 2025.
The Wiper Party leader is also expected to use the Washington visit to spotlight Kenya’s political climate as the country edges closer to the 2027 polls.
According to his political allies say Mr Musyoka will also raise concerns over electoral preparedness, institutional independence and the broader democratic environment, framing the coming polls as a critical test for Kenya’s constitutional order.
Mr Musyoka is also expected to speak on recent developments around human rights, including allegations of excessive force during protests and shrinking civic space – issues that have increasingly drawn the attention of the international community.
By placing these matters before foreign policymakers and diplomatic actors, Mr Musyoka is seeking to internationalise pressure for reforms while positioning himself as a reform-minded alternative on the national stage.
Later this year, Mr Musyoka is expected to schedule a longer visit to the United States.
With an estimated 175,000 Kenyans residing in the US, the community not only sustains families back home but increasingly bankrolls political campaigns and shapes opinion through social networks and digital platforms.
Kenyans in the diaspora are also seeking legal changes to make it easier for them to vote in the presidential elections.
