Mudavadi backs Ruto 10M vote haul and shuts down deputy president speculation
PCS Musalia Mudavadi with Governor Muthomi Njuki. Photo, Courtesy.
Prime Cabinet Secretary says UDA-ODM coalition makes a 2027 landslide inevitable, as government clarifies position on foreign traders
By Brian Gitonga
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi yesterday predicted that President William Ruto will win the 2027 presidential election with more than 10 million votes, dismissed speculation over the President’s running mate and clarified that Kenya has not imposed a blanket ban on foreign nationals engaging in small-scale business.
Speaking in Kathwana, Tharaka Nithi County, where he presided over the opening of the new county headquarters complex, Mudavadi said the political arithmetic of the broad-based arrangement between the United Democratic Alliance and the Orange Democratic Movement made a decisive Ruto victory all but certain.
He pointed to the combined vote tallies of Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga in the 2022 presidential election as the foundation for his projection. “In 2022, Ruto and Raila commanded a combined 14 million-plus vote basket,” Mudavadi said. “Assuming opponents take even four million votes, Ruto will still command a 10 million-plus lead under the broad-based coalition.”
Mudavadi urged UDA and ODM supporters to deepen the coalition at the grassroots and said the two parties had built national structures that no new political formation could credibly replicate in the time remaining before the August 2027 polls. “Ten months to the August polls, nobody can build another party that will have such structures expecting that it will lead them to a presidential win,” he said.
He also moved to close down what he described as idle speculation about who would run alongside Ruto on the 2027 ticket. The President’s decision to appoint Kithure Kindiki as Deputy President, Mudavadi said, was deliberate and final. “The seat of the Deputy President is not vacant. The decision made by President Ruto to appoint Prof Kindiki as his deputy was not child’s play,” he said.
Mudavadi praised Kindiki’s contribution to the stability of the Ruto administration and said their working relationship was constructive. “The President knows the value Prof Kindiki is bringing to the table, and he understands that in Kindiki there is no backstabbing,” he said, adding that UDA was focused on continuity with Ruto and Kindiki as its ticket.
On the broader political environment, Mudavadi urged Kenyans to reject what he called warmongers, tribalists and politicians driven by bitterness. He said the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission must be respected and protected to deliver free, fair and credible elections. “Nobody will circumvent the work of the IEBC and the will of the voters,” he said. “Let us not give room to any person who preaches disrespect and hatred.”
Turning to the question of foreign nationals in business, Mudavadi sought to correct what he described as a mischaracterisation of government policy. Kenya, he said, had not banned foreigners from participating in the economy. What the government required was compliance — with the East African Community Common Market Protocol, with immigration law and with business regulations.
“You must regularise your immigration status and the government will protect you and your business,” Mudavadi said. “This is the practice across the world.” He added that the same expectation applied to Kenyans working and doing business abroad. “Follow the law and be disciplined,” he said.
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki endorsed the government’s position, saying Kenya was not and would not become a xenophobic country, but that knowing who was conducting business within its borders and on what legal basis was a reasonable expectation. “What we are asking is to know who these people doing business in Kenya are, and that they have the right documents,” Njuki said.
Mudavadi praised Njuki’s leadership of the county and described the completion of the new headquarters complex as tangible evidence of what devolution, properly managed, could deliver. “Today, as we celebrate the milestone of this new complex, it is a sign that good management continuously improves and touches the well-being of our people,” he said. He credited Deputy President Kindiki, a Tharaka Nithi native, with also contributing to the stability of the national administration.
The Prime Cabinet Secretary said the national government would continue to support devolution and work alongside county governments to improve service delivery and drive grassroots development.
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