The United Opposition is slowly becoming a casualty of the very politicians who promised to rescue Kenya from President William Ruto. What began as a promising political coalition is increasingly looking like an auction of presidential ambitions, inflated egos and competing demands for power.
Rigathi Gachagua and Edwin Sifuna appear to have mistaken political excitement for political ownership. Both are increasingly behaving as though the opposition belongs to them, and everybody else must negotiate their place in it.
The humiliation of Kalonzo Musyoka at the launch of Linda Mwananchi’s party headquarters exposed this dangerous political culture. Sections of Sifuna’s supporters heckled the Wiper leader, apparently unwilling to recognise him as an equal political principal rather than a supporter of Sifuna’s presidential ambitions.
Kalonzo left the event angry. He has since declared that he intends to be on the presidential ballot in 2027.
That should not surprise anybody. Kalonzo has spent years supporting opposition presidential candidates, sometimes at considerable political cost. He cannot reasonably be expected to surrender his ambitions while being treated as a political guest in somebody else’s movement.
Sifuna’s growing popularity, amplified by media attention and social media enthusiasm, risks creating an illusion that political visibility automatically translates into national leadership. A crowd cheering at a political rally is not an electoral mandate, and humiliating potential coalition partners is hardly a strategy for building one.
Gachagua’s approach is equally troubling. He increasingly speaks as though the Mt Kenya electorate is his personal political property, invoking millions of votes as bargaining power in opposition negotiations.
Kikuyu votes are not Gachagua’s private property. Kenyans are not political merchandise to be negotiated over by ambitious politicians.
Democratic Party leader Justin Muturi has now accused Gachagua of political bullying, double-speak and undermining opposition unity. His criticism reinforces concerns that the former Deputy President is increasingly treating coalition politics as an exercise in political dominance.
Fred Matiang’i has also warned against excluding other opposition leaders, responding to Gachagua’s suggestion that he, Kalonzo and Sifuna are sufficient to form the next government.
That is precisely the problem. Where do Matiang’i, Muturi, Martha Karua, Ndindi Nyoro and other political players fit into this grand arrangement? Are they partners or merely spectators expected to endorse decisions made by a handful of self-appointed political principals?
The opposition cannot preach constitutionalism and democratic accountability while practising political exclusion within its own ranks.
There is also the claim that Gachagua is preparing to relocate to Texas within the next eleven months.
The bigger tragedy is that Ruto may not need to do much to weaken his opponents. They are doing the work themselves.
Kenya needs a credible alternative, not a coalition of politicians competing over who deserves to inherit State House before they have won an election.
Gachagua cannot claim ownership of Mt Kenya. Sifuna cannot mistake applause for a national mandate. And Kalonzo cannot be expected to keep sacrificing his ambitions for people who do not respect his political stature.
The United Opposition is in danger of losing the 2027 election before the campaign has properly begun. Not because Ruto is unbeatable; of course, he is the man to beat, but because the people seeking to replace him appear incapable of putting the country ahead of their egos.
