Meru County Monitoring and Evaluation Director Alhaji Mwendia adresses the press. Photo by Brian Gitonga
A senior county official says residents should brace for a wave of political defections and realignments as the 2027 election draws closer and electoral arithmetic begins to dominate every decision.
By Brian Gitonga
Meru County Monitoring and Evaluation Director Alhaji Mwendia yesterday told residents to expect a wave of political defections and realignments as the country moves toward the 2027 General Election, warning that shifts in loyalty — at both county and national level — are not only likely but inevitable.
Speaking at his office in Meru town, Mwendia said residents should prepare for what he called political migration: a period in which individuals recalibrate their positions, leave administrations or seek new political homes based almost entirely on electoral calculations.
“With only a few months remaining towards the General Election, you are going to witness what we call political migration,” he said. “People are going to leave and go to other places, with some leaving the government and others joining the government.”
Mwendia was candid about the motivations behind such movements, arguing that aspiring politicians rarely offer honest explanations when they exit an administration. The stated reasons, he said, typically obscure the real ones.
“When a person is leaving the government, they won’t say what has made them leave. They won’t say that they have their own calculations or that it is part of their political arithmetic,” Mwendia said.
He said those seeking elective positions face growing pressure to secure their places in preferred political parties before the window closes. Waiting too long, he argued, carries its own risk: a party may settle on another candidate and leave a late-mover without a platform.
“There are some people who fear that if they do not move out of government and secure their chance in their preferred political parties, those parties are going to field other candidates and leave them out,” he said.
Mwendia said the same dynamics could play out within Governor Mutuma M’Ethingia’s administration. Some elected leaders currently allied with the county government may drift away if they calculate that distance serves their electoral ambitions, while others may move closer to the governor if association with his administration is seen as a political asset. Members of the County Assembly, he said, would be no exception.
“Even Members of the County Assembly who are going to ask for votes — we are going to witness some leaving Mutuma M’Ethingia and others coming to join him,” Mwendia said.
His broader observation was characteristically direct. In electoral politics, he argued, self-interest is the most reliable constant.
“There is no single person seeking to be elected whose first loyalty is elsewhere, because their first loyalty is to themselves and their own interests in how they are going to be elected. This is why we say politics has no permanent enemies and no permanent friends,” Mwendia said.
His remarks reflect the wider political restlessness now visible across Kenya as the 2027 election approaches. From Nairobi to the counties, alliances are being tested, platforms reconsidered and loyalties quietly renegotiated. Meru is not unique in that regard, but Mwendia’s willingness to speak plainly about the mechanics of political self-interest offers a candid window into a process that political actors typically prefer to keep quiet.
For Meru residents watching their leaders navigate the coming months, the message was simple: the movement has already begun, and there is more to come.
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