Maraga: I’d rather be funded by Wanjiku than stolen billions in 2027 race
By Mustafa Juma, August 25, 2025Former Chief Justice David Maraga has reiterated that he will rely on ordinary Kenyans to finance his 2027 presidential campaign, insisting that clean leadership must begin with transparent funding.
Speaking during an interview with a local TV station on Sunday night, August 24, 2025, Maraga said he has deliberately rejected offers of big-money backers because most of such funds are proceeds of corruption.
He argued that accepting stolen billions only ties leaders to cartels and undermines the fight against graft.
“First, I have done this because I don’t have the money to campaign. Secondly, and I think it is the right thing to do, when Kenyans themselves fund my campaign, I am obliged to them. I will know this is manna that has come from Wanjiku; Wanjiku requires my services,” Maraga said.
Maraga on corruption
The former CJ criticised Kenya’s entrenched political culture where candidates spend millions to secure office, then rush to recoup campaign costs once elected.
He further warned that this cycle fuels corruption, ballooning war chests, and “philanthropy” schemes funded by stolen public resources.
“What I am fighting for in this is that in the current situation that we are in, if a governor has spent Ksh10 million and he comes into office, the first thing he wants is to recoup, and then after that, he starts building a war chest. Do you see how corruption is coming in everywhere? Then they have that money they are dishing out left, right, and centre,” he argued.
Economic empowerment
He went ahead to criticise the government-funded economic empowerment programme headed by the Kenya Kwanza administration, stating that the money being dished out has been stolen from the public.
According to Maraga, such initiatives are not sustainable in the long run.
“You know what is happening with the so-called empowerment? Where is that money coming from? That is the money that has been stolen from the public, and it is now being given to the public to be viewed as a philanthropic system assisting Kenyans. That is not even sustainable,” he said.
Maraga on his campaigns
Maraga maintained that his campaign will ask Kenyans to reject token handouts of Ksh200 or Ksh500, which he says amount to selling one’s soul.
Instead, he called for issue-based politics that allows leaders without deep pockets but with integrity to ascend to power.
“My campaign is going to tell Kenyans not to be hoodwinked with Ksh200, Ksh300, or Ksh500, and you sell your soul literally. We want to change that so that even those who don’t have money but have leadership capabilities can be elected on values, and they serve Kenyans, not electing thieves who go and steal more from you,” he said.