Musalia Mudavadi, the quintessential gentleman of Kenyan politics is out on the national campaign trail to popularise the newly formed Amani National Party.
The party is intended to offer a viable alternative to the two mainstream parties, Jubilee and ODM/Cord.
The Mudavadi currently on the campaign trail is, however, a dint different from the past. He appears re-engineered and is throwing punches at both Jubilee and ODM/Cord.
Describing Jubilee as corrupt and ODM/Cord as incompetent, he is offering himself as the better option. There appears to be a concerted effort to discard the image of a laid-back gentleman into a more aggressive presidential candidate.
The truth be told, if the Kenyan presidency were to be secured by qualification and experience alone, then few Kenyans would hold a candle to Musalia Mudavadi.
Trained as a Land Economist at the University of Nairobi, he was elected Member of Parliament and appointed Cabinet Minister for Supplies and Marketing in 1989 at the relatively young age of 29, making him the youngest Cabinet Minister since independence.
Re-elected in 1992, he proceeded to hold the portfolios of Minister of Finance, Agriculture, Transport and Communications, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Government in an illustrious career spanning 27 years.
Musalia Mudavadi has thrown his hat in the ring for his second attempt at the presidency, having come third in his first attempt in 2013.
His first duty, however, will be to galvanise the populous Western Province into a single voting bloc. It is a daunting task indeed as Western Province traditionally does not vote as a bloc.
Many politicians past and present have exploited this curious anomaly. Uniting the Western Province vote would give Mudavadi one of the most prestigious positions in Kenyan politics as the Luhya are the second-most populous ethnic community in Kenya.
A win or loss in his second attempt at the presidency, Musalia Mudavadi will sensationally alter the Kenyan political landscape and will position himself as a major political force in future.
Any political coalition ignoring a major voting bloc like Western Province can only do so at its own peril.