President William Ruto has urged leaders in the Broad-Based Government to work towards winning the next election, saying they have “no choice” if Kenya is to avoid what he described as a dangerous alternative.
Ruto said the coalition must secure victory in the 2027 General Election, framing the contest as a matter of Kenya’s future rather than the interests of individual politicians.
“By God’s grace, we must win the next election. Inshallah, we must win the next election, not for your sake, for the sake of Kenya,” Ruto said.
The President was speaking during the Broad-Based Government meeting in Naivasha, Nakuru County, where political leaders drawn from different formations gathered to discuss the government’s record, challenges facing the country and the way forward ahead of the 2027 elections.
Ruto said the political leaders gathered at the meeting had a responsibility to ensure that the country remained on what he described as the right path.
“Because the alternative is difficult to fathom. So, we have no choice, friends,” he said.
He said leaders in the room should understand the weight of the decisions they make and their implications for the country.
“As you sit here, you have no choice because the alternative, I shudder,” Ruto said.
The President then criticised the alternative political leadership, saying a group without a clear plan, agenda, policy or vision would pose a danger to the country.
“A group of people who have no plan, no agenda, no policy, no vision is too dangerous for Kenya,” he said.
Ruto's remarks come as the Broad-Based Government seeks to consolidate political support ahead of the 2027 General Election.
The President has in recent months increasingly spoken about the need for leaders within the broad-based arrangement to work together and defend the administration's record as the country heads towards the next election.
During the Naivasha meeting, he described the gathering as consequential, saying the Broad-Based Government had brought together a large number of political leaders from across the country.
He said the group was the largest gathering of political leaders in Kenya apart from the Grand Coalition Government and therefore had a major responsibility in determining the country's direction.
“The future of our nation is dependent on the decisions that we make in this meeting,” Ruto said.
He said the leaders must put the interests of the country ahead of political differences, arguing that Kenya's success would benefit all citizens regardless of their political affiliations.
Ruto also recalled his engagement with the late ODM leader Raila Odinga, saying he had reached out to him immediately after the 2022 General Election in an effort to minimise political differences and bring the country together.
He said the engagement was not initiated two years ago, as some had suggested, but immediately after the election.
“I did engage the Honourable Raila Odinga immediately after the election, with a view of minimising the differences, the rough edges, because ultimately we are citizens of one nation, irrespective of our political situations,” Ruto said.
The President said political competition remained part of democracy but leaders should ultimately recognise their shared responsibility to the country.
“Yes, we must compete. Yes, we must have different points of view. But bottom line is that we belong to one nation,” he said.
Ruto said the Broad-Based Government should therefore focus on areas of convergence in the political formations that make up the arrangement and use them to advance the country's development agenda.
