Kalonzo revamps Wiper ahead of 2027, hands Jamleck, Njiru key roles

Left: Ex-Kigumo MP Jamleck Irungu Kamau, Right: Advocate Ndegwa Njiru. [File, Standard]

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has unveiled a new leadership team ahead of the 2027 General Election.

Kalonzo has appointed former Kigumo Member of Parliament Jamleck Irungu Kamau as party chairman, advocate Ndegwa Njiru as the party's first spokesperson and Nyali MP Mohamed Ali as deputy party leader designate.

The appointments, announced on Friday, August 7, are part of efforts to expand and renew the party's leadership as it positions itself for the 2027 General Election.

According to Kalonzo, the changes are intended to build a party that brings together all counties, generations and Kenyans seeking change.

Kamau, a former Cabinet Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan Development, was appointed party chairman days after stepping down from the Murang'a gubernatorial race.

He is a two-term former Kigumo MP, a former Commissioner of the Parliamentary Service Commission and a former National Vice-Chairman of the Party of National Unity. He also served as a principal negotiator in the political alliance that formed the government at the time.

Kalonzo described Kamau as a disciplined leader with three decades of experience building political coalitions.

"Kamau has spent thirty years building coalitions, balancing budgets and holding different political groups together under pressure. That is precisely the discipline the Wiper Patriotic Front needs as we assemble the United Alternative Government-in-Waiting," Kalonzo said.

Nyali MP Mohamed Ali was appointed Deputy Party Leader Designate.

Kalonzo cited Ali's background in investigative journalism, saying his work exposed corruption and amplified the voices of whistleblowers before he joined politics.

He also pointed to Ali's parliamentary experience, including his role as Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Parliamentary Service Commission, as well as his charitable work through the Mohamed Ali Foundation, which supports education, healthcare and persons living with disabilities.

According to Kalonzo, Ali's appointment strengthens the party's leadership while broadening its appeal among younger Kenyans and the Coast region.

Advocate Ndegwa Njiru was appointed Wiper's first party spokesperson, a position created under the party's new leadership structure.

Admitted to the Bar in 2011, Njiru is the founder of Ndegwa & Ndegwa Advocates and has represented politicians and young Kenyans in several high-profile cases involving arrests and alleged violations of constitutional rights.

Kalonzo described him as a lawyer who has dedicated his career to defending citizens against what he termed arbitrary use of power.

Kalonzo said the appointments were based on experience, integrity and commitment to public service.

"These are not appointments of convenience but of conviction. A coalition builder, a man of proven integrity and a defender of the rule of law, each of them is a perfect fit for a party whose only agenda is to 'Komboa Kenya'," he said.

He added that more changes to the party's leadership are expected as Wiper prepares for the 2027 elections.

"We are not only working hard; we are working smart. And that is why you see these new appointments and more to come," Kalonzo said.

The appointments come days after Kalonzo held consultations with opposition leaders in Nairobi on August 4 as part of efforts to unite opposition parties under a single political platform ahead of the 2027 General Election.

He said the consultations will continue until parties and leaders opposed to what he termed "captured governance" are united under one front.

"We are agreed, as we have always been, that division is this regime's only strategy and that a united opposition is the one thing it cannot survive," Kalonzo said.