Governor Anne Waiguru Says Edwin Sifuna Not Ready for 2027 Presidency

Governor Anne Waiguru of Kirinyaga said Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna may have a future in politics but not in the 2027 presidential election, casting doubt on his ability to secure the opposition ticket.

Waiguru told Citizen TV that she believes established opposition figures Kalonzo Musyoka and Fred Matiang’i would be unwilling to abandon their own ambitions for Sifuna, describing the likelihood of them supporting him as “almost non-existent”.

She added that Kalonzo’s supporters have indicated they would shift to President William Ruto’s camp if their leader is not the opposition candidate, and similar sentiments have been expressed in Kisii regarding Matiang’i.

Waiguru, who is pursuing the Deputy President slot on the United Democratic Alliance ticket, also named Kalonzo Musyoka as the opposition’s most probable presidential candidate, while stating she does not see him beating Ruto.

The governor questioned Sifuna’s political capacity, citing his inability to persuade close allies to abandon their parties as evidence of a “capacity issue”, and contrasted this with Ruto’s 2022 campaign when, as Deputy President, he secured the support of over 100 MPs.

Sifuna has declared his intention to run for president in 2027 under the Equitable Party, which he plans to rebrand as Linda Mwananchi, and his campaign relies on small-scale crowdfunding and focuses on cost of living, public debt transparency, fiscal accountability, taxation, constitutionalism and civil liberties.

A TIFA Research survey released on July 24 gave Sifuna 15 percent support, placing him second to Ruto’s 24 percent, up from 10 percent in an earlier May 2-11 poll; the same poll showed Kalonzo at 13 percent, Matiang’i at 14 percent and former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua at seven percent.

The Wiper Party spokesperson Ndegwa Njiru responded to Waiguru’s remarks by saying the party has not formally demanded Kalonzo be the opposition’s United Alternative Government candidate, but reiterated that Kalonzo will never work with Ruto.

Opposition leaders of the United Alternative Government are scheduled to meet in Kiambu on August 24, 2026, as the contest for the 2027 ticket intensifies.

Ruto and his allies have accused former President Uhuru Kenyatta of financing the opposition, an allegation Kenyatta has flatly denied.