In every democracy, the opposition is not a noisy choir. It is the government-in-waiting, the conscience of the republic, the watchdog of power.
But Kenya is different. Our 2010 constitution, for all its celebrated reforms, never created a structured opposition. No leader of the opposition. No shadow cabinet. No parliamentary framework. Nothing.
Opposition politics here is left to goodwill. To unity. To vision. When leaders fail, the democratic balance tilts dangerously in favour of the regime. That is exactly where we stand today.
The so-called United Opposition—an alliance of Kalonzo Musyoka, Martha Karua, Eugene Wamalwa, Justin Muturi, Fred Matiang’i and Rigathi Gachagua—has proved anything but united. Instead of hope, it has offered Kenyans ego wars, slogans, and endless rivalries.
Enter Gachagua
At the centre of this mess is Rigathi Gachagua.
Once President Ruto’s ally, today he parades himself as the custodian of Mt Kenya politics. But his politics is not visionary. It is not policy. It is raw populism, tribal arithmetic and naked ambition.
When Gachagua declared “presidents are made in the field, not in boardrooms”, it was not inspiration. It was a direct attack on his colleagues. In one reckless stroke, he turned dialogue into discord. Unity into division.
Gachagua does not build. He dismantles.
Kalonzo in bad company
Yet in this confusion stands Kalonzo Musyoka.
Unlike Gachagua, Kalonzo has always chosen diplomacy. He has shown patience, loyalty and consensus. He has carried himself as a statesman.
But today, he looks like a good man trapped in bad company. His credibility is at risk. His measured politics is being drowned by Gachagua’s toxic theatrics.
Matiang’i saw this early. He has already walked away. His “Sketchers to every village” jab at Gachagua was not just bravado. It was a parting shot. A clean break. Matiang’i refused to be stained. Kalonzo must take note.
Theatre, not leadership
What we are witnessing is not leadership. It is a theatre.
Petty quarrels, grandstanding, empty chest-thumping. Meanwhile, Kenyans struggle with high food prices, suffocating taxes and joblessness.
The so-called opposition is beginning to look less like a government-in-waiting and more like a comedy troupe rehearsing for satire night.
Kalonzo’s crossroads
Kalonzo has a choice. Stay shackled to Gachagua’s tribal politics—or rise above and seize his moment.
If he is serious, he must broaden his options. He should reunite with Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta to rebuild a reformist front. At the same time, he should open a dialogue with President Ruto to position himself as a statesman who bridges divides.
Such a recalibration would lift him out of the shadows of theatrics and place him at the centre of Kenya’s next consensus. It would transform him from a hostage of disunity into the architect of unity.
The verdict
Kenya’s opposition is in pieces. Disrupted, disorganised, directionless.
Gachagua’s tribal populism has deepened the cracks. Karua, Wamalwa and Muturi remain stuck in their small ambitions. And Kalonzo’s one chance at statesmanship is being dragged down by the wrong company.
But it is not too late.
If Kalonzo follows Matiang’i’s example, breaks free from Gachagua and rebuilds ties with Raila and Uhuru while engaging Ruto, he can still redefine himself as the true national unifier.
This is his moment. His crossroads. He can either sink with Gachagua—or rise and seize leadership.
The people of Kenya deserve solutions, not slogans. Unity, not factions. Hope, not theatre.
Kalonzo Musyoka still has a chance to give it. But only if he abandons a toxic alliance and chooses vision over vanity.
Fredrick
Okango is a Strategic Advisor and an Expert in Leadership and Governance.
