Gachagua: 2027 will be Kenya's next '2002 moment'

DCP leader Rigathi Gachagua during an interview on October 28, 2026. [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard]

Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has predicted that Kenya’s 2027 General Election will mirror the historic 2002 polls, when opposition parties united behind one presidential candidate to end KANU’s decades-long rule.

Gachagua said a similar political realignment was taking shape across the country, arguing that opposition leaders must rally behind a single candidate to challenge President William Ruto or risk being isolated politically.

Speaking during an interview with KTN on Wednesday evening, Gachagua claimed that Kenyans from different regions were increasingly united around the desire for political change.

“We are having a 2002 moment in all facets, and we are having a moment where the country has decided in unison without holding any meeting anywhere, from the Coast to Nyanza, from western to Rift Valley, from central to northeastern, Nairobi here, Kenyans have decided they want change, and they have decided that William Ruto must be one term,” Gachagua said.

He argued that the current political environment was even more significant than the one preceding the 2002 election because opposition leaders were now seeking to defeat a sitting president rather than an administration preparing to hand over power.

“In 2002, pe ple were united against a project of an outgoing president. Today they are united against a sitting president,” he said.

Gachagua warned that once opposition leaders agree on a common presidential candidate, those who choose to pursue separate presidential ambitions could find themselves without sufficient political backing.

He, however, declined to identify the leaders he believed might break ranks, saying Kenyans would ultimately judge those who supported unity and those who pursued independent political paths.

“I don't want to say it's who. Why is that? Why should I? Let me leave it to the people of Kenya,” he said.

This emerge as opposition leaders navigate negotiations over a joint presidential candidate, with competing ambitions and questions about the selection formula remaining central to their discussions.

The 2002 election provides a significant historical reference point. Opposition parties came together under the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), selecting Mwai Kibaki to challenge KANU’s candidate, Uhuru Kenyatta, who had been endorsed by then-President Daniel arap Moi as his preferred successor.

The coalition brought together previously competing political figures, including Raila Odinga, whose faction had broken away from KANU after Moi settled on Kenyatta as his preferred candidate.

Kibaki won the election, ending KANU’s uninterrupted rule since independence and demonstrating how opposition unity could reshape Kenya’s political landscape.

Gachagua believes a comparable convergence is emerging ahead of 2027. However, his assertion that Kenyans have already settled on the need for a single opposition candidate remains his political assessment, rather than an established national consensus.