Former Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi now says he will run for Presidency in 2027.
Havi attributed his decision to the belief that there ought to be an alternative to President William Ruto.
“Of course, I will be running for president of the Republic of Kenya in 2027,” he said.
He spoke on Monday during an interview with Citizen TV.
Havi said he might be the only alternative as opposition leaders allied to Azimio leader Raila Odinga are busy ensuring that he clinches the Africa Union Commission chairmanship.
He added that since Raila will not be vying for the position of the Head of State, the lawyer will be better positioned to.
“If Baba doesn’t want to do it, some of us will,” he said.
Havi’s statement comes even as Raila’s bid for AUC got a major boost after 25 member countries pledged to support Kenya’s candidature.
The government’s campaign team, led by Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign CS Musalia Mudavadi, has so far reported progress in convincing seven other African countries to support Kenya’s quest.
This will see the numbers rise to 32 countries out of 48 that will vote in February 2027.
According to the Africa Union rules governing the election, the successful candidate needs two-thirds of the votes cast which this season is 32 since only 48 countries are eligible to vote.
According to Raila’s campaign schedule, the Kenyan candidate has dedicated his January to an extensive tour of the Southern African Development Community boasting 16 member states Members of SADC include Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
In the past 10 days, Raila has been traversing West Africa in a campaign blitz during which he received a major boost after Mauritius – which also has a candidate in the race – agreed to back his bid.
With the Mauritius candidate Anil Gayan now out of the race, Raila will be battling with two other candidates – Youssouf (Djibouti) and Richard Randriamandrato (Madagascar).
Ruto is banking on Raila’s successful bid to push through Nairobi’s proposal for reforms at the AUC.
