Karua’s 2027 bid: Does Gachagua’s praise tip the scales?
By Faith Lagat, September 27, 2025The opposition stage is shifting fast, and the spotlight is firmly on Martha Karua.
On September 26, 2025, the People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader secured unanimous endorsement from party delegates at the National Delegates Conference at Ufungamano House, Nairobi, to contest the 2027 presidency.
Karua’s speech was direct and unambiguous: she would serve only one term, promising to demystify power and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity. “We are one people, one purpose, one term,” she declared, mapping out a platform of universal healthcare, equitable education, agricultural revival through credit and markets, and accountability for public funds.
It is not Karua’s first time at the presidential starting line. She ran in 2013 and was Raila Odinga’s running mate in 2022 under Azimio, earning 48.85% of the vote against William Ruto’s 50.49%.
Her legal and political pedigree is long and storied, serving as Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs from 2008 to 2009, resigning in protest over judicial appointments she felt violated due process. For decades, she has fought corruption, extrajudicial killings and economic inequities, often standing almost alone.
In Isiolo in April 2025, she told Kenyans bluntly that male-led governments since independence have failed to distribute resources equitably. “A mother ensures everyone is fed, whether there is plenty or little,” she said, sketching a vision of inclusive leadership.
Her PLP, rebranded from NARC-Kenya in February 2025, carries the slogan “fight, unite, liberate” with a heavy focus on youth engagement and constitutional reforms, including term limits for party leaders.
Gachagua’s unexpected rallying cry
The day of Karua’s endorsement brought an unexpected twist.
Rigathi Gachagua, former Deputy President and leader of the Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP), stood up to hint publicly at supporting her ambitions. Impeached in October 2024 on gross misconduct charges and still battling legal woes, Gachagua could have kept his distance.
Instead, he praised Karua’s integrity and resilience. “Martha Karua is one leader I believe in the journey of democracy and national liberation. This journey is difficult; many will fall, many will be bought, and many will be compromised, but I do not doubt that Martha Karua will go to the end to liberate this country,” he told the hall.
Then he sharpened the contrast with the current administration. “If Martha Karua is elected president, she cannot steal from the people of Kenya. I do not think Karua will ever order people to be shot in the leg. I do not think Martha Karua, as a grandmother, can order the killing of Gen Zs.”
For a man who declared his own presidential bid in April 2025 and styled himself the “frontrunner” in a September interview, the endorsement was striking.
But it was not entirely out of the blue. The two had quietly been building an alliance since his impeachment. On January 25, 2025, he visited Karua at her Kirinyaga home to discuss collaboration.
She lauded his “courage and resilience in the face of adversity.” He, in turn, promised regular consultations on politics, public service and legal matters. “We have had a good conversation, and we have agreed that going forward we are going to work together with other Kenyans… so that we liberate this country,” he said.
Their partnership has been visible even in the diaspora. In July, at the Ngemi Cia Ruraya cultural event in Seattle attended by hundreds of Kikuyu expatriates, Karua, draped in purple symbolising hope, criticised Ruto’s administration and called for unity. Gachagua stressed cultural roots as the bedrock of political mobilisation.
Road to a single opposition flagbearer
Gachagua’s support could significantly strengthen Karua’s standing within the United Opposition, a coalition of six parties: DCP, Wiper, PLP, DAP-Kenya, Democratic Party, and Jubilee.
Formed in early 2025, the alliance named former UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi as spokesperson in September to coordinate strategy. The parties have agreed to grow individual candidacies but ultimately settle on one flagbearer through a transparent process. Justin Muturi hailed Karua’s endorsement as momentum for this approach, calling it “a movement… preparing to place a single, formidable candidate before Kenyans.”
The coalition has even shortlisted names, Muungano wa Ukombozi, Komboa Kenya Alliance, Liberation Alliance Movement, and Mageuzi Coalition, signalling a desire for unity. But internal dynamics are tricky. Gachagua has promised to restore Mwai Kibaki’s legacy of functional healthcare, free education and tax relief, and credits his resilience, surviving alleged assassination attempts and impeachment, to faith.
Softened stance?
On September 26, he appeared to soften his stance, saying, “My supporters and I are ready to support anybody we agree is the one to face William Ruto in 2027.”
Rival aspirants like Kalonzo Musyoka, Fred Matiang’i, and Eugene Wamalwa each have their own regional bases and ambitions. Tensions between Wamalwa and Governor George Natembeya in Western Kenya, and between Muturi and Gachagua in Mt Kenya East, could also fracture unity. Independent bids by David Maraga, Okiya Omtatah, Boniface Mwangi, and Morara Kebaso further threaten to split the vote.
Yet Gachagua’s praise may tilt the Mt Kenya equation. Both he and Karua hail from the region, which holds roughly 20% of the electorate, and their alliance undercuts Ruto’s attempts to splinter it through funding and multiple candidacies. Karua has, in turn, defended Gachagua when government critics attacked his warnings on electoral subversion, urging focus on fair polls.
As boardroom talks intensify, Raila Odinga himself is involved in quiet conclaves; the coalition aims for “70%+1” votes through unity. Gachagua’s backing certainly elevates Karua’s profile, but consensus is far from guaranteed.
With polls due on August 10, 2027, and a weary electorate staring at Ksh12 trillion in public debt and rising unrest, the opposition’s ability to rally behind a single candidate will decide whether Gachagua’s praise is just noise or the turning point that tips the scales in Karua’s favour.