Kisii senator Richard Onyonka has declared that the Gusii community will field former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i as their presidential candidate in the 2027 general election.
Speaking at an event in his county on Friday, January 24, Onyonka decried small communities like his own being sidelined by successive governments.
He said the time had come for the country to try fresh blood away from the major ethnic formations, and Gusii was ready with its candidates.
"As a community, we have decided our candidate in the 2027 elections is Fred Matiang'i. We will not reconsider that. If you have a dysfunctional country and institutions are not sharing the cake equitably, then you must look for alternatives to force those in power to share the resources equitably," said Onyonka.
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The senator revealed that a new political party was on the way.
He added that Matiang'i would seek support from other influential leaders like former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka, ODM's Raila Odinga and former president Uhuru Kenyatta.
"One of the approaches is setting our political parties...We know Matiang'i will win, but he can't do it alone. We are going to talk to everybody. We will talk to Gachagua, Uhuru, Kalonzo Musyoka and even Raila Odinga. We will tell them it is now our time because the country must now look for small clans which can show their potential in leadership," the senator added.
Onyonka's pronouncements came a month after the United Progressive Alliance Party (UPA) endorsed Matiang'i as its presidential candidate for the 2027 elections.
During a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Nyamira on December 18, 2024, UPA members unanimously agreed to nominate Matiang’i as the party’s flagbearer for the upcoming presidential race.
“We have no doubt that Dr Matiang’i’s popularity in the country is undeniable, and the party’s decision to prepare for his candidacy has been widely appreciated across the nation,” UPA Secretary General Jacob Bagaka said
Matiang'i's political career began with his appointment as the Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) in April 2013, under Uhuru.
He was later moved to the Ministry of Education, where he was acclaimed for the tough measures he sanctioned to curb cheating in examination cheating.
Matiang'i was later transferred to the Ministry of Interior, in which he served from 2017 until the end of Uhuru's second and final term in the presidency.
