Will Mwingi West MP survive backing Ruto in Kalonzo’s home turf in 2027?
By Paul Mutua, February 26, 2026Resentment and tension are building between Wiper Patriotic Front party loyalists and Mwingi West MP Charles Nguna, with some in the Kalonzo Musyoka-led alliance pushing for the MP to be tamed or sidelined.
According to insiders, the centre of confusion arises from Nguna’s continued open defiance to the party’s stance on the 2027 succession politics and his declaration of preferring President William Ruto’s re-election to Kalonzo, his party boss.
The developments have triggered a contest in Nguna’s constituency where strategies are being worked on to find a suitable replacement to the “rebellious” MP.
Nguna is facing jostling, pulling and pushing internal hostilities within the Wiper party since he announced his intention to work and cooperate with Ruto and his administration “for his constituency not to be left behind in sharing equitable developments”.
The MP’s political fortune began changing back in 2024 when he defied Kalonzo on his directive to stay away from voting for the impeachment of the former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Nguna has since run into trouble with Kalonzo, the party and allied members.
In Kalonzo’s Kitui County backyard, the race for Nguna’s successor points to a possible two-horse contest between him and a newcomer, engineer Jonathan Ngenga.
From a perspective view, if the elections were to be held today, either Nguna would retain his seat with a small margin vote or lose to Eng Ngenga with a slightly equal margin in the constituency with four wards – Migwani, Kiomo/Kyethani, Nguutani and Kyome/Thaana. Nguna is serving his second consecutive term since 2017.
Nguna-Ngenga 2027 contest
With one year and five months remaining to elect a new parliament and government, Nguna and Ngenga seem to have rolled up their sleeves and gone neck-and-neck at each other to woo voters to favour their candidatures at the opportune time.
Subsequently, the two “giant competitors” have reduced other rivals, a bookseller Munyoki Mwangangi and a former county executive member for tourism Koki Musau, alias Kuvasila, to mere political spectators without substantial impact, relevance or influence.
The significant aspect of the Nguna-Ngenga power struggle is that neither are push-overs. They both understand their strengths and territories.
Ngenga, who seems to be financially stable, has rolled out programmes geared to empowering the youth in skills training programmes where his Engineer Jonathan Ngenga Foundation will fully sponsor the selected trainees across the constituency.
“Through the foundation, I have rolled out hands-on skills programmes targeting youths in the entire constituency. The aim is to empower our youth through practical skills development in line with my vision to build a productive, skilled and industrial Mwingi West,” the aspirant said.
He says that the programmes involve welding, hairdressing, beauty therapy, plumbing, catering, computer studies, electrical installation and automotive engineering.
Ngenga, who has hit the road running, has vowed to bring a new dawn of vision and purpose. He has traversed the constituency with four wards with a message to restore dignity and respect to the elders.
He said he will launch a modern chief’s office at Kanyaa in Nguutani Ward on Saturday, February 28, 2026, and invited residents to come and witness the milestone project.
“Our people are yearning for honest, transformative and people-centred leadership – leadership that listens, understands and delivers. It is in this spirit that I step forward to bridge,” Ngenga said.
In his blueprint manifesto, Ngenga says he is a person who stands for every young person looking for opportunities, every mother striving for dignity, every father struggling to provide and every family that dreams of a brighter future.
“My vision is clear: a constituency where no one is left behind, a Mwingi West where education is prioritised, where the youth are empowered through real opportunities, where small businesses thrive and where every resident, regardless of age or background, has a voice and a stake in progress,” the candidate says.
With the unfolding political scenarios in Kalonzo’s backyard, it puts Nguna walking in a polarised tightrope situation in trying to appeal to a broad base of voters who are shifting support to Ngenga.
The opinion poll
Many of the constituents the People Daily Digital interacted with rated the battle in the constituency a 50-50 situation between Nguna and Ngenga.
However, the MP has stood in public and challenged Kalonzo to stop issuing conditional instructions on allegiance to the party.
“I am not shaken and apologetic for abandoning the party and its leader and choosing to work and cooperate with President William Ruto’s broad-based administration in the countdown to the 2027 General Election. Please leave me alone,” the MP said.
MPs’ remarks
Speaking at the Migwani Boys Secondary School in his constituency, Kitui County, on February 20, 2026, when he distributed Sh67 million in bursaries for 11,434 students in 64 secondary schools in the constituency, the MP said his resolve to work closely with the UDA administration was not negotiable at the moment when the government was fulfilling some of the promises made to his constituency.
He said, although he had not officially defected from the party, he would continue associating himself with the government of the day and give it the support it requires to develop his constituency to write a new chapter in the people’s livelihoods until the general elections are held.
Nguna’s rebuttal
Nguna categorically made it clear that he would not be intimidated, forced or blackmailed to serve the interests of an individual or a group of people in a particular political party at the expense of the region that was in dire need to champion a united front aimed at championing unity of purpose and rally the residents behind a broad-based ideology and movement.
He said his region needs to have a broad-based approach in thinking and application to avoid the constituents being left out in the distribution of the national cake and stand to be counted at equal measure with other regions.
The MP then asked Kalonzo and his Wiper brigade to give him peace and leave him alone to pursue what he believes is in the best interest of the people he serves.
Nguna said at the moment his intentions and those of the electorate are clear to collaborate with Ruto for sustainable development in the constituency. “We both committed to working together for the betterment of the constituency and Kenya at large,” he said.
Institute: the Mwingi-Nzeluni-Kwa He said since he started working closely with the UDA administration, works have resumed on all stalled projects, including the Kwasiku-Mbondoni road, which is part of the Sh18.4 billion project – the Kitui-Kibwezi-Kabati-Migwani-Mbondoni road; Kiio Sports Academy; Kakongo market; Thitani Technical Institute; and the Mwingi-Nzeluni-Kwa Nzulwa road.
Nguna said other projects include rehabilitation of colonial dams – Manguva, Kasovi, Mui and Thokoa – and youth and women empowerment programmes.