President William Ruto is facing a fresh political challenge as opposition leaders fan out across the country in multiple campaign blitzes ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Even before settling on a single candidate to face the President, opposition chiefs have adopted a simultaneous campaign strategy in different regions.
The aim is to consolidate their political bases and widen their “Wantam” call while denying Ruto room to make inroads or mount a fightback plan.
“As we move towards 2027, the campaigns are going to be more — all directing fire at him,” Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo said.
“When one group is in Mombasa, the other is in Busia, another in Turkana. Tell me, how will he make a comeback?” he asked.
They are exposing what they term Ruto’s excesses and failures, including the high cost of living, high taxes, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, in a bid to turn the electorate against his administration.
Laikipia Senator John Kinyua said the opposition wants to deny the President any political breathing space as the “Wantam” campaign gathers momentum.
The opposition leaders have stepped up their countrywide tours, with each principal consolidating their bases and opening up new regions to lock out the President.
The calculation is simple. If the opposition can consolidate its traditional bases, Ruto will have fewer opportunities to penetrate them.
At the same time, the leaders are seeking to leverage their combined strength to build momentum in areas where they have historically competed against one another.
Political commentator Gitile Naituli said the strategy is aimed at containing Ruto even before official campaigns begin.
“It is a new strategy; the idea is to block Ruto everywhere so he doesn’t get the 25 per cent threshold required in half the counties,” Naituli said.
The Constitution requires a presidential candidate to secure at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in more than half of the counties, in addition to winning the national plurality.
This makes the opposition’s strategy politically lethal.
It is not only about winning individual constituencies or counties. It is also about denying Ruto the geographical spread required for a first-round victory.
However, Ruto and his troops have dismissed the opposition campaign strategy, arguing that the Kenya Kwanza administration has not even started its serious campaign for 2027.
“I have not even started campaigning yet. Let me give those opposition guys some time to continue for a little while. When I start, I will scuttle them early in the morning. These people don’t know me,” Ruto said in Busia last month.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, a close ally of the President, has also dismissed the opposition’s activities.
“Have the campaigns started? No. When we start our campaigns, all these people in the opposition will fizzle,” Cherargei said.
Alego Usonga MP Samuel Atandi, whose ODM party is backing Ruto’s re-election bid, has similarly downplayed the opposition blitzes.
But the President’s own recent remarks suggest that his camp is increasingly aware of the political pressure created by the opposition’s sustained presence on the ground.
During the UDA-ODM meeting in Naivasha last weekend, Ruto acknowledged that his administration was losing the political communication battle.
He blamed his allies for failing to defend the government’s record, saying this had allowed the opposition to dominate public debate.
“The reason why some of us don’t speak is that we have been intimidated as though we have done nothing,” Ruto said.
He accused the opposition of filling the political vacuum with what he described as propaganda, fake news and misinformation.
“So, we are bombarded with opposition nonsense, propaganda, fake news and misinformation when we have a credible record that nobody can dispute,” he said.
Ruto urged his allies to take the government’s achievements to voters instead of allowing the opposition to define his administration.
He pointed to infrastructure projects, including the Kenol-Murang’a Road, as evidence of his government’s performance.
The opposition leaders have vowed to sustain the multiple charm offensives against Ruto even as they deny him any opportunity to split them.
“We are aware that William Ruto’s only way to survive is to divide the united opposition. If we succeed in holding together, it matters not who is actually the flagbearer. It’s a common cause,” Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka said last month.
Machakos Deputy Governor Francis Mwangangi said the leaders had agreed to secure their political strongholds first before bringing their forces together.
“We agreed that we must all lock our bases, then when we come together, we form a solid team that will send Ruto home,” Mwangangi told the Star.
On Friday, former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua camped in Nakuru while Kalonzo campaigned in Kilifi.
At the same time, Jubilee deputy party leader Fred Matiang’i was in Narok and Bomet.
In recent weeks, Gachagua has concentrated on Mt Kenya and the Maa region, while the Linda Mwananchi movement has been building its presence in Western.
On Sunday, the movement is expected to pitch camp in Nyanza.
