OMWENGA: Why Matiang’i best candidate to beat Ruto in 2027
As Jubilee’s deputy party leader, former Interior CS has a platform to build on without starting from scratch.
by SAM OMWENGA
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Jubilee Party presidential candidate Fred Matiang’i during a Jubilee delegates’ meeting held at Thika Greens in Murang’a county on Friday, November 7, 2025. /HANDOUT
Now that the Jubilee Party
formally appointed Fred Matiang’i as its deputy party leader and its flagbearer
for 2027, Matiang’i has a leg up on the only other potential serious contender
in the opposition, who, no need to type the name but you already know, if you
honest.
This is because Jubilee
remains a national party with structures, grassroots reach and a legacy — which
gives the former CS an existing platform to build upon, without starting from
scratch. Those who were urging him start
from scratch were not serious but used it as bait to lure Matiang’i
into a hole he could not possibly get out of in any shape to seriously contest.
That Jubilee endorsement
effectively anoints Matiang’i as the ideal candidate to whip the incumbent come
2027, especially given the former CS’s widespread and growing organic support
across the country.
According to a 2025
national opinion poll by Research 8020, Matiang’i leads among potential 2027
candidates: 24 per cent of those polled said they would favour him, ahead of
Ruto at 21 per cent. Support
spreads across age groups (Gen Z, millennials and older voters) and across
counties, including urban centres and historically non-Jubilee regions.
Matiang’i is a beacon of
hope for those longing for a candidate who can unite Kenyans across tribal,
ethnic and regional divides. That cross‑tribal, cross-ethnic and cross-regional
appeal is especially valuable in Kenya’s electoral politics, where coalition‑building
remains decisive.
The Jubilee deputy leader
is often described as a manager, not a career politician, language that resonates
with voters frustrated by political patronage and unfulfilled promises.
As
former CS and ‘Super CS’ under former President Uhuru Kenyatta, he offers
administrative experience and a deep understanding of government structures,
which embodies exactly the qualities voters are demanding. He presents himself,
and there is nothing to the contrary, as someone who can make impactful
decisions — for the good, at levels even the incumbent has not made and is not
equipped to make.
Matiang’i has affirmed
commitment to coalition building, pleading with opposition leaders and factions
to unite behind a single candidate for 2027. He is too humble to say it,
but objectively speaking, that single candidate ought to be and should be him.
Given that the opposition
is fragmented among multiple leaders, a candidate with a party base like
Jubilee, with national reach and relative neutrality in existing factional
rivalries, should easily serve as a compromise unity candidate.
As party elders
and key Jubilee officials rally behind him publicly, others may find it harder
to contest that consensus — reducing the risk of vote splitting that would no
doubt benefit the incumbent.
The 2025 poll placing
Matiang’i ahead of Ruto comes amidst widespread dissatisfaction over cost of
living, economic stagnation and perceived mismanagement. In this climate, he
being a technocrat and reformer — not a populist or tribal mobiliser — could
easily attract swing voters seeking pragmatic solutions over personality
politics.
Most Kenyans agree that the
time is ripe for a manager, rather than a politician, to manage the affairs of
the country, which favours the former CS, the quintessential super manager who
knows how to get things done with a no-nonsense attitude.
These qualities resonate
with most voters, especially with a younger, economically concerned electorate.
However, much as we may not
want to admit it, there are looming dangers in the opposition. Thus, all of us
clamouring for change must be resolute and sober in making sure those dangers
don’t lead to the incumbent yanking victory from the jaws of defeat. We just
can’t and won’t let that happen.
In sum, Matiang’i
represents the strongest convergence of positive factors a candidate to beat
the incumbent must have: institutional backing via Jubilee, a national brand
beyond tribal/ethnic/regional politics, technocratic credentials, public dissatisfaction
with status quo and growing poll numbers.
In a crowded and often
fractured opposition field, those attributes give him a real shot at
consolidating support broadly enough to challenge and beat the incumbent come
2027, God willing.
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