More than 23
years later, we’re witnessing the contours of a repeat of
history in which one man may tilt the scales determining
who is elected president in 2027.
That man is none other than impeached former
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Although in his
latest interview, Gachagua said he will vie in 2027, he
has previously made it known that his primary objective
is not to vie, but to make sure President William Ruto
does not see the inside of State House as president for
a second term.
From everything the former DP has said
and done and continues to say and do, that mission,
which he baptised ‘Wantam’, is all that matters to him.
The only question is whom will he back come 2027?
Will it be former Super CS Fred Matiang’i or former
Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka? Limiting the choices to
these two opposition leaders is not random, but based on
the fact there is no other candidate who could plausibly
topple Ruto.
Any other choice would be just for fun or to
hand his nemesis Ruto an easy victory. But that would
fly in the face of what the man from Wamunyoro has
assured the nation is driving him for 2027.
Since neither scenario applies, we may now consider
which candidate – Matiang’i or Kalonzo—Gachagua is
likely to support in 2027. Both men have qualities that
make them attractive as presidential candidates.
That’s not the issue.
The issue is who has more
attractive qualities than the other and, even more
importantly, who has less baggage than the other.
Kalonzo was first elected to Parliament in 1985, long
before the Gen Z were even concepts.
He served as
an assistant minister, deputy Speaker of the National
Assembly, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister of
Education under the Moi regime.
He would serve again as
Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Kibaki administration
before he was moved to the Ministry of Environment in
a Cabinet reshuffle in 2004.
There is nothing particularly memorable about what
Kalonzo did in all those important positions he held
all those years, which is to say he was either average or
below. As leader of the Wiper party, heran for president
in 2007, finishing third behind then-President Mwai
Kibaki and Raila Odinga.
There is one memorable thing
about Kalonzo’s run in 2007 and it is that immediately
after the election that Kalonzo was slapped with the
moniker “watermelon”.
Fair or not fair, even he would
agree that had he not left Raila and the opposition in
the cold and rushed to cut a deal with Kibaki to be his
VP, the trajectory of Kenya’s history would have gone
in different direction, and not to the brink of a civil war
as happened.
In sum, Kalonzo has a long resume that is both a
curse and a blessing.
In response to a post Kalonzo
made on Facebook listing his kilometre-long list of
accomplishments beyond what I have listed, a reader
congratulated him and offered his humble advice: well
done, time to retire. At age 69, Kalonzo will be older
than 70 when vying for the presidency.
Matiang’i first served as CS for Education, where he
implemented significant reforms to curb exam fraud and
improve security within the examination process.
He
also held the positions of CS for ICT where he successfully
repelled efforts by cartels to frustrate or altogether stop
digital migration. He so excelled in his performance,
surpassing all other CSs that President Uhuru Kenyatta
made him ‘Super CS’ for Interior. In practice, Matiang’i
was the prime minister without the title.
Long before he became Super CS, he had distinguished
himself as a CS who knew how to do his job and how
to get things done as Education CS.
His performance as
‘Super CS’ only solidified that record and it is precisely
for this reason that he became an instant favourite
among Gen Z and Kenyans countrywide as someone
who should face and make Ruto a one-term president.
The writer is a political commentator based in the US
