The Service Party (TSP) leader and Laikipia East Member of Parliament, Mwangi Kiunjuri, has announced his bid for the position of governor in Laikipia County in the forthcoming general elections in 2027.

Speaking during an interview with a local vernacular TV station on Sunday, February 8, 2026, Kiunjuri confirmed that he won’t be defending his seat as Laikipia East Member of Parliament but will be running for the position of the county boss.

“Mwangi Kiunjuri will be running for the governor’s position. I am from Mount Kenya and don’t think you will come to the region and tell the people not to elect me because I have worked for them,” Kiunjuri said.

Kiunjuri’s political journey

Kiunjuri, who is a seasoned politician, first came to light as the MP for the Laikipia East constituency in 1997. He went on to recapture the seat in 2002 and in 2007 before falling into the political cold in 2013 when he lost the Laikipia gubernatorial race.

Kiunjuri made an entry to the Cabinet in 2015 after supporting Uhuru in the heated presidential race in 2013 on a TNA Party ticket, replacing the then Devolution CS Anne Waiguru, who was facing corruption charges over a multi-million-shilling scandal at the National Youth Service.

After President Uhuru Kenyatta’s re-election in 2017, Kiunjuri was moved to the agriculture ministry, which was termed a key ministry in the realisation of the Big 4 Agenda, before being sacked from the position in 2020.

In the run-up for the 2022 general elections, Kiunjuri formed The Service Party, TSP, and used it to successfully run for the Laikipia East Parliamentary seat, a position he clinched despite the political wave that favoured most UDA candidates in the Mount Kenya region.

As political temperatures rise ahead of the 2027 general elections, Mwangi Kiunjuri has declared his interest in the gubernatorial position in Laikipia County. Mwangi intends to take over from the current Governor, Joshua Irungu, who is serving his second term.

The legislator whose party is allied to the ruling coalition, Kenya Kwanza, is among the political heavyweights who have shown interest in the Laikipia top seat and will be expected to face off with other political figures like the former Laikipia Governor and the current chairperson of the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Ndiritu Muriithi, who is also reportedly eyeing recapturing the seat in the upcoming elections.