Wiper Patriotic Front Leaders Threaten Solo Kalonzo Musyoka Bid If Opposed Ticket Overlooked

Grassroots leaders of the Wiper Patriotic Front (WPF) from the Coast region have warned they will launch an independent presidential campaign for former Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka in the August 2027 General Election if he is not given the united opposition’s presidential ticket, a move that could split the anti-government coalition.

Wiper National Executive Committee member Omar Twaha said the party feels Musyoka is being unfairly treated within the opposition despite his long-standing role in uniting forces against President William Ruto, adding that the party does not intend to fracture the alliance. “If we front Kalonzo as the party, we would disintegrate the opposition, and that is not our intention. Our goal is one, to remove President William Ruto from power, and so we must respect each other,” Twaha said.

Coast chairperson John Chamia dismissed speculation that Musyoka could become President Ruto’s running mate, insisting the two leaders could never work together. “Whoever said Kalonzo will deputise Mr Ruto is dreaming. We can never even engage with him because Ruto and Kalonzo can never be together,” Chamia said.

The leaders warned that sidelining Musyoka could force the party to chart an independent path, noting his past support for the late former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in previous presidential contests and arguing that his presidential ambitions now deserve equal consideration in coalition negotiations.

The internal rift emerges as other opposition figures – Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i of the Jubilee Party – vie for the coalition’s flag-bearer, while Democracy for the Citizens Party deputy leader Cleophas Malala urged Musyoka to step aside for Sifuna, proposing an “Obama-Biden” style ticket. “I want to urge Kalonzo to replicate the Obama and Biden formula. Let us support Sifuna, 45 years old, as the opposition presidential candidate and then identify an older person among you to be his running mate,” Malala said.

Wiper officials also alleged that government operatives are exploiting the leadership squabbles to weaken the opposition ahead of the 2027 polls, reaffirming that their primary objective remains the removal of President William Ruto from power.