Kalonzo: Ruto plotting to rig 2027 election

Wiper Party Leader Kalonzo Musyoka speaks during the inauguration service of the new Bishop Patrick Munuve at ACK All Souls Cathedral in Machakos town on May 18, 2025. [John Muia, Standard]

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has accused President William Ruto of orchestrating an intimidation and harassment campaign against opposition leaders, allegedly in preparation to steal the 2027 presidential election.

Speaking at Tsekuru in Kitui county during the burial of his uncle Mzee Mburu Mairu, Kalonzo claimed that the president had panicked as the opposition coalesced together to unseat him.

While highlighting the recent tribulations of Trans-Nzoia governor George Natembeya and former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, Kalonzo stated that Ruto had resolved to weaponize the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) with an aim to cow and bully the opposition leaders into submission.

He said this was a well-crafted scheme by the president and his acolytes to lay ground for electoral fraud in 2027.

"They have targeted Natembeya because he has taken a certain political standpoint. His arrest has nothing to do with corruption. I am now told they want to arrest Riggy G (Gachagua). It is Ruto's larger scheme to bully and terrorise opposition leaders as he prepares to steal the upcoming presidential election," Kalonzo claimed.

He said that the opposition will not be cowed by Ruto's political machinations, adding that they will stand up against any form of election rigging.

"Mr Ruto listen to me, we will not allow you to steal the elections. You will not steal. You will not harass political leaders," Kalonzo said, during the funeral serviced also attended by Machakos governor Wavinya Ndeti, her Kitui counterpart Julius Malombe and senators Agnes Kavindu (Machakos) and Enoch Wambua (Kitui) as well as Kitui Woman Rep Irene Kasalu among others.

The former vice president asked President Ruto not to use state machinery to attack his political opponents, even as he exuded confidence that among the opposition leaders, he stood a better chance to unseat the president.

"It is no longer a secret that William Ruto will face Kalonzo at the ballot and I will take him home. There are no more cards to play, I will face him head on. He is definitely a one term and he must go," Kalonzo charged.

He blamed the Ruto administration for what he termed economic enslavement and marginalisation of some regions and urged youths in the country to rise up, register as voters and vote out the Ruto regime.

Leaders who spoke at the event rooted for Kalonzo's presidential candidature, saying he is a unifying figure who can lead credibly and serve Kenyans transparently.

Wavinya cautioned that leaders from the region who go against Kalonzo risked being swept away by the 'Kalonzo wave' in 2027.