We will announce 2027 candidate soon, Gachagua says as opposition renews calls to oust Ruto
Rigathi Gachagua and Kalonzo Musyoka at Wamunyoro grounds in Nyeri County on November 15, 2025.
The United Opposition principals on Saturday declared that they are close to agreeing on one presidential candidate to take on President William Ruto in the 2027 General Election.
The principals also warned the government against unreligious acts of corruption, abductions, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
The Democracy for Citizens (Party) boss Rigathi Gachagua, Wiper Patriotic Front's boss Kalonzo Musyoka, Democratic for Action Party-Kenya (DAP-K) leader Eugene Wamalwa and Jubilee Deputy Party leader Fred Matiang’i spoke in Nyeri County at Mr Gachagua’s home where his wife Pastor Dorcas was ordained a reverend.
Reverend Dorcas said that her rise from a pastor to a reverend signifies an increase in spiritual authority and respect.
“I remain committed to being part and parcel of a prayerful nation, respecting the diversity of faiths in collectively asking our spiritual references to grant us individual progress in a country where prosperity and justice shall rule,” she said.
Rigathi Gachagua with his wife Dorcas during a ceremony for her ordination from a pastor to a reverend at Wamunyoro grounds, Nyeri County on November 15, 2025.
Mr Gachagua announced that there was good news from the opposition; that consensus was building and members were committed to the cause.
“My happiness, which informs our collective hope and trust, is that as we are congregated here, sits our president [who will lead the country] between 2027 and 2032,” he said. “I will be back to you soon to announce the good news...the honouring of our promise to the disillusioned people and therein lies our hope of liberation...we are about to agree.”
Mr Gachagua said that no rain lasts forever. He added that President Ruto will be forced out of office, starting with a defeat of his candidate in the Mbeere North by-election scheduled for November 27, 2025.
“The government has its candidate and the united opposition has ours. Starting tomorrow (November 16, 2025) I will lead a team there and we will deliver a win on November 27, 2025,” he said.
Mr Gachagua said that the by-election will be a warning shot before the opposition makes Dr Ruto a one term President during the August 2027 General election.
The opposition leaders urged President Ruto to inculcate a culture of listening to the divine word of the clergy and also aspire to live as the good Christian he pronounces himself to be.
“We are living in interesting moments where we have leaders at the high office who live and rule contrary to what this prayerful nation demands of us,” Dr Matiang’i said.
“The clergy and the church are an integral party to nationhood. The clergy is speaking truth to power. When they speak, we better listen. President, listen to these religious leaders. The fate of leaders who don’t listen to the ordained voice of God is known world over.”
Jubilee Deputy Party leader Fred Matiang'i at Wamunyoro grounds, Nyeri County on November 15, 2025.
He said President Ruto’s rule is defiant to the dictates of God, which is why it was getting most of the governance order wrong.
The leaders also supported religious leaders who recently criticised President Ruto’s administration.
The Kenyan Catholic and Anglican churches issued a statement to President Ruto’s government, expressing concerns over various issues affecting the country.
The church called out the government on what it termed a ‘culture of corruption and misrule’.
The Catholic Church, led by the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), condemned corruption, human rights violations, and the government’s failure to fulfil campaign promises.
It cited economic challenges where it observed that Kenyans are struggling due to a high cost of living, unemployment and poverty.
The church expressed reservation on how the government is managing the healthcare of citizens, saying, for instance, that faith-based hospitals are struggling due to billions of shillings in unpaid claims from the National Health Insurance Fund and the Social Health Authority.
It also faulted the government’s taxation regime, arguing that mandatory, multiple and harsh taxes burden citizens and stifle economic growth.
The Church called for better governance, accountability, and transparency in the use of public resources.
Anglican Archbishop Jackson ole Sapit, in support of the Catholic Church stance, urged the government to address the pressing concerns raised by the bishops.
The State responded with President Ruto urging religious leaders to work with the government to foster national unity and build a stronger Kenya and inculcate a culture of respectful and common good engagements.
Mr Musyoka said that the President’s continued defiance of God’s will is the cause of the intensified the ‘Wantam’ threat.
He said that President Ruto’s government has subjected Gachagua’s family to many trials and tribulations, and that it is only by remaining true to God and heeding His dictates that Mr Gachagua has managed to survive.
“The country is hurting. The Church must take its position. The country is in an extraordinary moment. Crying. Widowhood. Orphans. Over-taxation. We got to hold each other’s hands and make all of us and the country become strong again,” Mr Musyoka said.
DCP Deputy Party leader Cleophas Malala said Gachagua’s impeachment was designed to crush him and his family but faith in God averted the plot.
Mr Wamalwa accused President Ruto of not being true to the high calling of the presidency.
