The Lower Eastern Times Opening The Third Eye
Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) leader Rigathi Gachagua has said he is confident Kenyans will rally behind the candidate the Opposition picks to face President WilliaRuto in the 2027 General Election, insisting that announcing the flagbearer will be a decisive moment in the race for State House.
Speaking to Kenyans during a church service in Boston, the former Deputy President promised that the Opposition would field a single presidential candidate. He pledged to do whatever was within his power, and to make personal sacrifices, to achieve that unity so that what he called the liberation of the country could begin in earnest.
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He said people would be happy with whoever is chosen, and that the day the candidate is announced is the day the 2027 election will be won.
Gachagua dismissed concerns that disagreements among opposition leaders could hand Ruto a second term. He cited an MP who had reportedly suggested the Opposition could be split by encouraging supporters of individual leaders to demand that their favourite be picked. Gachagua said such talk echoed what was being said before the 2002 General Election, when opposition parties united behind Mwai Kibaki to challenge KANU.
He recalled that Kibaki was named joint opposition candidate on October 14, 2002, about 73 days before the vote, and went on to defeat Uhuru Kenyatta. Kibaki won the December 2002 presidential election with about 62 per cent of the vote, ending KANU’s nearly four-decade hold on power.
His appeal comes amid growing debate over who should carry the opposition ticket. Leaders including Gachagua, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Jubilee’s Fred Matiang’i, Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Narc Kenya leader Martha Karua are in talks on how to settle on a common candidate. While they have expressed support for a joint candidature, the question of who will step aside for the eventual flagbearer remains the central challenge in building a united opposition ahead of the 2027 polls.
