Five top issues that will decide 2027 polls
By Alberto Leny, July 29, 2025Kenyans are in the grip of election fever, with political realignments rapidly unfolding every day, yet the date for the 2027 vote is still two years away.
Kenya has relatively shone as a beacon of electoral democracy in Africa, torn by internal conflicts and internal wars.
These contestations are fuelled by the quest since the colonial period to create good governance, human rights and legal regimes.
However, Kenya has often fallen into the trap of many African governments’ failure to guarantee citizens equal participation in economic, social and political activities despite a comprehensive national and regional governance architecture.
Not even the adoption and ratification of the acclaimed 2010 Constitution, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the Constitutive Act of the African Union (AU) in 2001, applicable to all 55 African states, have helped prevent this scenario.
Our leaders in the 21st century are still entangled in issues of poor governance, retarded and unbalanced development, and disregard for human rights.
The 2027 election will be a watershed moment in the country’s history as political, social and economic dynamics have been radically transformed since the last election in 2022.
As the 2027 poll campaigns gather momentum, five issues will likely determine the outcome in this vastly changed environment.
First are two closely intertwined factors – electoral justice and demographics, which are in turn linked to the other three critical factors – the economy, ethnicity and democratic governance, also interlinked.
Electoral justice has gained prominence in Kenya after repeated disputed presidential elections in 2013, 2017 and 2022.
In recent times, an emerging generation of young Kenyans, popularly known as the Gen Z, have rallied democratic forces in protestations against the violations of the constitutional principles of integrity, transparency, accountability, and human rights.
They are now principal advocates of electoral justice, anchoring their advocacy in the demographic dividend they are actively championing to wield at the ballot in 2027.
Numbers do not lie; the Gen Z cohort forms the bulk of Kenya’s population.
Current estimates show that 75 per cent of the population, consisting of nearly 40 million, is below the age of 35 years.
Do the math of the Gen Z factor in the number of registered voters, and you will understand why the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission is under sharp scrutiny on how it will conduct voter registration, voting at the polling station, and the transmission of results.
After their stunning political feat of humbling President Ruto to withdraw the publicly rejected 2024 Finance Bill, the Gen Z have galvanised a national movement against electoral injustice and unpopular political and economic policies.
Through this call, young Kenyans have touched a wound where Kenyans are hurting most – the economy, the third 2027 presidential election, alongside the fourth and fifth factors of ethnicity and democratic governance.
While the government drums up its economic policies, the reality on the ground tells a different story – poverty, economic hardships and unemployment, particularly affecting millions of youth.
Issues that know no ethnic boundaries or voting patterns.
Combined with rampant corruption and looting of public funds exposed by the Auditor-General, those banking on poor governance, violation of human rights and laws, ethnic balkanisation and electoral injustice are in for a rude shock.
The writer comments on national affairs