Gachagua and Wanjigi deepen opposition talks as Mount Kenya political realignment gathers pace
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua hosted Safina Party leader Jimi Wanjigi at his Wamunyoro residence yesterday
The former deputy president meets the Safina Party leader at his Wamunyoro home as the push for a united opposition front ahead of 2027 intensifies
By Grace Wanja
Former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua hosted Safina Party leader Jimi Wanjigi at his Wamunyoro residence yesterday, their second meeting in recent weeks, as opposition forces accelerate efforts to build a credible coalition ahead of the 2027 general election.
The meeting, which both principals confirmed publicly, forms part of a deliberate and widening consultation exercise that Gachagua has been conducting since announcing on 9 June that he would step back from public political rallies for 45 days to focus on structured engagements with political stakeholders, business figures and community leaders across the country. The objective, he has made clear, is to build consensus around a single opposition presidential candidate capable of defeating President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza administration in 2027.
“Pleased to have held consultations with businessman Jimi Wanjigi, who called on me at the Wamunyoro residence,” Gachagua said after the meeting. “The liberation cause of our country and the formation of the 6th Administration are so critical that we must get views from all. I have greatly benefited from his insights and experience in the formation of governments. Consultations continue. God bless Kenya.”
Wanjigi, for his part, was equally direct about what drew him to Wamunyoro. “The liberation of Kenya demands that we all discuss ideas that put Kenya first,” he said. “Great catching up with my brother Rigathi in his Wamunyoro residence.” He added that Kenya must pursue both political and economic freedom, insisting that leaders must put the country’s interests ahead of narrow political considerations.
The language of liberation — deployed by both men — is not incidental. It is the vocabulary of an emerging opposition narrative that frames the 2027 election not merely as a contest between parties but as a moment of national reckoning. Gachagua, impeached in October 2024 and still fighting that decision through the courts after the High Court upheld the Senate’s ruling earlier this month, has consistently maintained that his legal battles will not derail his political ambitions. “The law stipulates that one cannot be denied the right to vie with an active court case, and before one exhausts all the remedies constitutionally available,” he said in a recent media interview, signalling his intention to take his appeal to the Court of Appeal and, if necessary, the Supreme Court.
The Wamunyoro meeting takes on additional significance when placed against the backdrop of the Democracy for the Citizens Party’s commanding performance at the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election on 16 July, where DCP candidate Sammy Douglas Kamau Waweru polled 35,440 votes against UDA’s 5,450 — a result that sent a powerful signal about shifting political loyalties in Mount Kenya, a region that was once the bedrock of Ruto’s electoral support.
Wanjigi, a vocal critic of Ruto’s bid for a second term, has been meeting leaders aligned with the United Opposition and Linda Mwananchi movement. His engagement with Gachagua adds a significant business and strategic dimension to an opposition movement that has until now been driven largely by political figures. Political analysts say the meeting highlights the increasing value opposition figures are placing on technocratic and financial input as they seek to build a competitive national campaign structure.
Gachagua has spoken openly of his ambition to grow DCP into a party commanding 130 parliamentary seats and 20 county governors by 2027, a target that would require disciplined coalition-building, sustained grassroots organisation and the kind of cross-regional appeal that the Ol Kalou result suggests may be within reach. The party’s strategy appears to rest on two pillars: consolidating Mount Kenya behind an alternative to Ruto while simultaneously reaching out to opposition figures beyond the region, including voices like Wanjigi who carry credibility with urban voters, the business community and reform-minded Kenyans frustrated with the current administration.
Gachagua has firmly dismissed speculation about any reconciliation with Ruto, a question that has shadowed his public appearances since his removal from office. Those close to him say the Wamunyoro consultations are proof of a man who has moved decisively beyond that chapter and is focused entirely on building what he describes as Kenya’s next administration.
He says he has been tasked with consulting community leaders, political figures and opinion shapers across the country to build consensus around one opposition candidate, describing unity as the only viable path for the opposition. The Wanjigi meeting, coming so soon after the Ol Kalou triumph, suggests the opposition’s sense of momentum is real — and that the conversations happening behind the gates at Wamunyoro may be shaping Kenya’s political future more decisively than the noise of the public rally circuit ever could.
Whether that momentum translates into a durable coalition will depend on whether figures as different in background and temperament as Gachagua and Wanjigi can move from consultation to commitment — and whether the broader opposition field, crowded with ambitions and competing interests, can ultimately agree on the single candidate that Gachagua insists is non-negotiable.
For now, the meetings continue. And in Kenyan politics, that is rarely nothing.
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