President William Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza team are already working on an elaborate plan to win more gubernatorial seats in 2027 according to sources. His team has already identified counties that his UDA party will target in the forthcoming elections.
The first target is the Lamu County gubernatorial seat currently held by Issa Timamy of the ANC party, Issa is serving his final term and UDA is contemplating bringing on board the Jubilee candidate in the last elections, Fahim Yasin Twaha who garnered 24,198 votes against Issa’s 16,054 votes.
Another county that President Ruto’s team is burning the midnight oil to capture is Kajiado, where Governor Joseph Ole Lenku of ODM is also serving his final term. Already, Ruto has brought on board Jubilee’s Joseph Nkedienye. During the last elections, Lenku garnered 117,600 votes against UDA’s Katoo Ole Metito’s 111,725 and Jubilee’s Joseph Nkedienye’s 75,337. There is a likelihood that Ole Metito’s appointment as State House Comptroller was meant to pave the way for Nkedienye to fly the UDA flag in 2027.
In Nyeri, Governor Mutahi Kahiga of the UDA is serving his last term, and President Ruto is pushing to have his preferred choice elected governor. Kahiga is a close ally of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagwa. In Garissa County, Governor Nathif Jama of ODM is serving his last term. Ruto’s strategists are said to be targeting Ali Korane of Jubilee, who garnered 26,148 votes against Juma’s 69,342 votes, while UDA’s Barrow Dekow Mohamed came in third with 13,602 votes.
Another targeted county is Meru, where Governor Kawira Mwangaza won as an Independent candidate. The president’s team could, however, face challenges as the immediate former governor; Kiraitu Murungi has already jumped the Azimio ship to join Kenya Kwanza, while Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi is also plotting to make a second stab at the seat. During the last elections, Mwangaza garnered 209,148 votes. Mithika Linturi, who flew the UDA flag, came in second with 183,859 votes, while Murungi was third with 110,814 votes. It will be a challenge for President Ruto to decide between Kiraitu and Linturi to fly the UDA flag. If the two are to run separately against Mwangaza, she might win a second term as an Independent candidate, again.
The president’s strategists are also plotting how to capture the Taita/Taveta seat currently held by Andrew Mwadime. To achieve this goal, sources say UDA is in the process of bringing on board the immediate governor, Granton Samboja, to run against Mwadime if he refuses to join UDA. In the last elections, Samboja got 23,701 votes, while Mwadime got 49,901 votes. In Tharaka Nithi, governor Muthomi Njuki of UDA is serving his last term. There are reports that Ruto wants Erastus Njoka of Jubilee to cross over to UDA and fly the UDA flag in 2027.
During the last elections, Njuki secured 97,151 votes against Njoka’s 58,152 votes. In Isiolo, Governor Abdi Guyo of Jubilee is Ruto’s target. Already, he had declared his “defection” from Azimio to Kenya Kwanza. Guyo garnered 28,946 votes against his main rival, Godana Doyo, who came in second with 2,551 votes.
In Vihiga, Governor Wilber Ottichilo of ODM is serving his second and final term; we understand that the president’s team is already working on a scheme to win the seat in 2027. Their target is the former governor, Moses Akaranga of the Progressive Party of Kenya (PPK), who obtained 37,049 votes against Otichilo’s 76,041 votes. In Kirinyaga, Governor Ann Waiguru is serving her final term, and with indications that Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua might make a second stab at the seat, the Kenya Kwanza team is plotting to settle on a strong candidate who cannot be humiliated by Martha Karua in the polls. UDA is targeting former women’s representative Wangui Ngirici, who got 105,677 votes against Waiguru’s 113,088 votes. She has also announced her loyalty to UDA.
In Bungoma, the president’s team is burning the midnight oil on how to wrestle the seat from Ford-Kenya. Bungoma County is the bedrock of Ford-Kenya and National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula. With Governor Ken Lusaka serving his final term, Kenya Kwanza is plotting to bring on board the immediate former governor Wycliffe Wangamati who recently joined UDA; he got 137,378 votes in the last elections on DAP-K against Lusaka’s 241,695 votes.
Already, Kimilili MP Didmas Barasa has hit the ground running to succeed Lusaka. He is most likely to defect from the UDA to the Ford Kenya. In Kisumu County, President Ruto is said to be planning to front Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda, who has also jumped the Azimio ship and is working with UDA. The current governor, Prof. Anyang Nyong’o, is serving his last term. During the last general elections, he garnered 319,957 votes, while the immediate former governor, Jack Ranguma, got 100,600 votes.
