Opposition leaders (from left): Democracy for the Citizens Party leader Rigathi Gachagua, Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Fred Matiang'i, People’s Liberation Party (PLP) Party Leader Martha Karua and Former Public Service Cabinet Secretary Justin Muturi.
The united opposition is executing a strategy it hopes will achieve the objective of limiting Dr William Ruto to one presidential term when elections are held in 2027.
The latest step the leaders of the united opposition have taken is appointing former Trade Minister and long-standing lawmaker Mukhisa Kituyi the coalition spokesperson and head of the secretariat.
The idea is to maintain consistent messaging.
There have been cases of clashing or disjointed positions on issues of national interest among affiliated parties.
The naming of Dr Kituyi as secretariat head is intended to put a stop to that.
Former United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi.
Dr Kituyi resigned as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) ahead of the last General Election to contest Kenya’s presidency, but went on to throw his weight behind then opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition candidate Raila Odinga.
The secretariat Dr Kituyi heads has experts seconded from the coalition’s main members.
“The appointment of Dr Kituyi as spokesperson of the opposition is significant. Dr Kituyi is a well-rounded intellectual with a grasp of left-wing and right-wing ideas. You won’t find anyone better for that position in this region. He is simply world class,” said Mr Wafula Buke, a former political detainee.
The opposition led by Mr Rigathi Gachagua (Democracy for Citizens Party – DCP), Mr Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper Party), Dr Fred Matiang’i who is yet to declare his party, Ms Martha Karua (People’s Liberation Party – PLP), and Mr Justin Muturi (Democratic Party – DP) has for months attempted to ride on the Gen Z wave but the push seems to have lost momentum – at least for now.
On Friday, Mr Musyoka hosted Dr Matiang’i and former National Assembly Speaker Muturi at his home in Yatta.
The meeting brought together a team of university lecturers that the united opposition has hired to help design the path to victory in 2027.
Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka.
The secretariat has been tasked with formally registering the opposition coalition with the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP).
A source working at the ORPP said a delegation from the secretariat visited the office on Friday.
According to a tentative itinerary seen by the Saturday Nation, the coalition partners are expected to unveil the official name, symbols and rallying slogan, as they step up efforts to garner support from Kenyans.
The new roadmap involves consensus-building on key issues such as the selection of a joint presidential candidate, the relations of fringe parties, nominations, campaign financing and dealing with President Ruto’s tactics.
Other challenges are how to work with or counter the influential young Kenyans – should they organise themselves into a potent voting bloc – and dealing with emerging political fronts such as Kenya Moja, which brings together breakaway wings of the broad-based government and the united opposition.
However, the opposition still has to deal with sibling rivalry as the most pronounced challenge, but its leaders insist these are merely teething problems in coalition-building.
Every party in this loose formation they hope to turn into a formal united group has also been given targets of new voters they have to help enlist when the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) begins the process.
Every party has been assigned the region considered its stronghold.
Mr Musyoka’s Wiper, for instance, has been given lower Eastern and DCP the Mountain in that format.
In sticking to a tried and tested plan, the opposition has brought together regional blocs to mobilise voters and deny Dr Ruto support.
In Nyanza, former Interior Cabinet Secretary Matiang’i is leading a drive to consolidate regional votes.
Some of his supporters have positioned him as the Gen Z preferred candidate while it is widely believed former President Uhuru Kenyatta backs him.
There is a conglomerate of actors in Western, led by former Defence Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya, DCP Deputy Leader Cleophas Malala and now Dr Kituyi.
In the Maa region, there is Kajiado Senator Kenar Seki and Kajiado North MP Onesmus Ngogoyo. There are several others in the shadows.
But the opposition will have to first put its house in order. In Western, for instance, the opposition appears at war with itself, with Mr Wamalwa in a supremacy showdown with Governor Natembeya regarding the control of the Development Action Party of Kenya (DAP-K).
Battle for Mbeere North seat
Meanwhile, the battle between Mr Gachagua and Mr Muturi over the Mbeere North by-election has been ill-disguised.
While Mr Muturi insists that the seat belongs to his party on grounds that Mr Geoffrey Ruku – who was serving as area MP until President Ruto appointed him to the cabinet – was a DP member, Mr Gachagua says DCP “is a national outfit that will contest all available seats now and in 2027”.
With less than two years to the General Election, the opposition is hard-pressed for time to effect a roadmap towards the ultimate goal, a minefield that calls for no errors.
Task ahead
President Ruto and his Deputy Kithure Kindiki have vowed to whitewash the opposition, with Mr Odinga appearing all set to throw his lot with the incumbent for a joint contest for state power in 2027.
Pundits insist that beating an incumbent in an election has always been easier said than done, but not something entirely impossible.
It has happened elsewhere in Africa.
Mr Gachagua said in Mathioya, Nyeri County, yesterday that the joint opposition script is on course and will mature by close of December 2026.
“We are fighting a ruthless machine of an establishment that is capable of doing anything in desperation,” he said.
“It has abducted, murdered, disappeared and persecuted Kenyans using state agencies. It has violently dispersed rallies and publicly declared intent to steal votes.”
Mr Gachagua added that the opposition should remain united.
“We need to keep our cards guarded but at the same time make individual public declaration that the opposition will stick together till the end,” he said.
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua arrives at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from the US on August 21, 2025.
The former deputy president added that the first agenda is to unite “our regions and later congregate at the negotiation table to execute a strength, weakness, opportunity and timeliness analysis so as to pick a flagbearer”.
“In the process, we know the government is not sleeping and will try all tricks to derail our goal. The bad news for President Ruto is that the country is united against him, hence enough pressure on us to remain committed to the patriotic duty of defeating him,” he said.
Dr Matiang’i said he would gun for the presidency with inspiration from Mr Kenyatta and the Jubilee Party “but this should not be read to mean I’m a scatterbrain in the joint course”.
He said in a TV interview on Thursday his first loyalty is to Mr Kenyatta and Jubilee “because the two made me join public service and through them I became the me who is now gunning for the presidency”.
“I cannot rewrite history. I was Mr Kenyatta’s Cabinet Secretary. I agreed on his service and policies. We developed the country together. I associate myself fully with Mr Kenyatta and his legacy,” Dr Matiang’i said.
Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i address Luanda residents in Vihiga County, on July 3, 2025.
He added that the talk of him being a mole in the opposition “is being peddled by those competent in the politics of lies and deceit”.
“We are in talks. I’m in that moment of a suitor with several girls as options. I will choose one,” he said.
“We are in one pool. We are debating. We are building consensus. It is not easy. We are conducting individual strengths, weaknesses and opportunities... But of importance, Kenyans want us to stick together. We are not even set off and doomsayers are saying we are fighting. We are not near fighting.”
The opposition cannot afford to take chances since the candidate they are pitted against beat Mr Odinga in 2022, despite the latter enjoying the support of the state machinery.
It remains to be seen how principals running individual outfits and seeking a bite into the pie contained in political parties funding, membership and nomination fees as well as sharing of spoils will shape the united opposition roadmap towards cohesion.
Ms Karua said in the past: “Those are the issues we are well aware of. We are up to the task. The competition in our parties and individual ambitions will at tail end converge and deliver the political magic of unity in a way that will dumbfound the incumbent”.
People's Liberation Party leader Martha Karua delivers her speech during the party's launch in Nairobi on February 27, 2025.
DCP head of strategy, Peter Mbae said he is privy to information that next year will be hectic for the opposition as all principals get endorsed by their political parties as presidential candidates”.
This revelation perhaps explains why Mr Natembeya is at war with Mr Wamalwa and Mr Malala with Dr Kituyi.
It is the same case in Jubilee, where Secretary-General Jeremiah Kioni insists that Dr Matiang’i is the most popular candidate in the opposition and deserves the ticket.
According to New Gema chairman Isaac Mungai, the biggest problem in Dr Matiang’i’s candidature is the position of his running mate.
“The principals must work to lock their individual voting blocs and later converge at the national table to craft a contest team without the underhand games at play seeking to run away with the prize even before it has been contested,” Mr Mungai said.
