{"id":2499,"date":"2026-01-04T10:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T10:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/2499\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T10:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T10:43:08","slug":"opposition-will-name-flagbearer-closer-to-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/2499\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition will name flagbearer closer to election"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ex-Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua<\/p>\n

The United Opposition has announced that it will delay naming its joint presidential candidate for strategic reasons, according to former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Murang\u2019a County on Saturday, Gachagua said the opposition is in no rush to announce its flagbearer, even as Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka had previously indicated that the candidate would be revealed early this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we announce our candidate too early, our candidate will be confused completely. We will declare our flagbearer a few months before the election,\u201d Gachagua said.<\/p>\n

Gachagua explained that the delay would give the opposition more time to consolidate support and attract other like-minded parties to the alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do it now, we might exclude people like our brother Edwin Sifuna. Even Mzee Oburu Oginga has expressed interest in running. We need to hear from everyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the burial of Alice Gakuya, mother to Embakasi North MP James Gakuya, Gachagua stated that some government officials have privately indicated their willingness to join the opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people in the government who speak to me at night and say they will decamp at the right time. We have to wait for them before unveiling our lineup,\u201d Gachagua claimed.<\/p>\n

The former Deputy President referenced the 2002 elections, noting that Mwai Kibaki\u2019s candidacy was unveiled only a few months before the polls. <\/p>\n

He said the opposition\u2019s 2027 candidate would similarly be chosen close to the election date.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs opposition, we are ready to back any person agreed upon by the coalition. Whether it\u2019s Kalonzo, Fred Matiang\u2019i, Sifuna, or George Natembeya, we will align,\u201d Gachagua said.<\/p>\n

The comments appeared to contrast with Kalonzo Musyoka\u2019s statement in December 2025, in which he committed to announcing the opposition\u2019s presidential candidate by the first quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI make this commitment to you: by the first quarter of 2026, the name of our presidential candidate will be made known to Kenyans. The United Opposition is not just a coalition; it\u2019s your government-in-waiting. We are united not by personal ambition, but by shared values,\u201d Kalonzo said in his message.<\/p>\n

During the Murang\u2019a event, Gachagua also defended retired President Uhuru Kenyatta amid criticism from some ODM members.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should stop insulting Uhuru Kenyatta\u2026 he has already retired,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ex-Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua The United Opposition has announced that it will delay naming its joint presidential candidate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[80,351,352,98,100,353,101,350,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-2499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kenya","8":"tag-kenya","9":"tag-kenya-news","10":"tag-star","11":"tag-star-news","12":"tag-star-news-kenya","13":"tag-star-newspaper-kenya","14":"tag-the-star","15":"tag-the-star-kenya","16":"tag-the-star-newspaper"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}