Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has predicted that Kenya's 2027 presidential election will mirror the 2002 polls, when opposition leaders united behind one candidate to defeat the ruling party. Speaking during an interview with KTN on Wednesday evening, Gachagua warned that politicians who reject a joint opposition candidate risk being isolated. He stated that Kenyans across the country are converging around the idea of having one candidate to challenge President William Ruto.
Gachagua described the current political mood as similar to the unity that preceded the end of KANU's rule. "We are having a 2002 moment in all facets, and we are having a moment where the country has decided in unison without holding any meeting anywhere, from the Coast to Nyanza, from western to Rift Valley, from central to northeastern, Nairobi here, Kenyans have decided they want change, and they have decided that William Ruto must be one term," Gachagua said.
He argued that the current moment was even more intense than the political climate before the 2002 General Election because, in his view, Kenyans were now united against a sitting President rather than a project backed by an outgoing Head of State. "In 2002, people were united against a project of an outgoing president. Today they are united against a sitting president," he said.
Gachagua predicted that once opposition leaders settle on a single presidential candidate, anyone who chooses to run independently would struggle to attract support. He said the public would determine the eventual opposition formation and that politicians who pursued a different path would be left outside the wider movement.
In the 2002 General Election, opposition parties came together under the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) and selected Mwai Kibaki as their presidential candidate against Uhuru Kenyatta, who had been endorsed by outgoing President Daniel arap Moi as KANU's successor candidate. The coalition brought together previously competing political leaders, including Raila Odinga, whose faction had broken away from KANU after Moi settled on Kenyatta as his preferred successor.
Gachagua declined to identify the politician he believed might break ranks, saying Kenyans were capable of reading the political landscape and drawing their own conclusions. "I don't want to say it's who. Why is that? Why should I? Let me leave it to the people of Kenya," he said. He maintained that the direction of the opposition would ultimately be determined by Kenyans.
Gachagua's assertion that Kenyans had already settled on a single opposition candidate was his political assessment, rather than an established national consensus. The coming period would require difficult political decisions, and he emphasized that Kenyans would play a crucial role in shaping the opposition's direction.
Key points
- Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua predicts 2027 will be Kenya's next '2002 moment' with opposition leaders uniting behind one candidate.
- Gachagua warns politicians who reject a joint opposition candidate risk being isolated.
- He argues that Kenyans are united against a sitting President William Ruto, similar to the unity that preceded the end of KANU's rule in 2002.
