NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 27- Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee Party has settled on Fred Matiangi as its presidential flag bearer to face off with President Ruto in the 2027 general election.
Speaking during the Capital in the Morning show Monday, the party’s Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni disclosed that the Former Interior Cabinet Secretary is well suited to clinch the topmost seat and oust President Ruto in the next polls.
“We are looking for a person that can unify the country, which is this name that more people can rally around. We are looking at a bully in the name of William, who is this person who can look at William eyeball to eyeball and tell him off,” Kioni stated.
Kioni revealed that Jubilee Party settled on a presidential candidate outside the Mount Kenya where it enjoys much support having bagged 28 seats in the 2022 general seats with majority of them from the region.
“We are picking somebody from outside the mountain and somebody from a small community and picking a name that’s known. The reason we have the 2010 constitution it allows us to pick a candidate from any corner of the country,” he retorted.
With the 2027 polls in two years, the Jubilee Secretary General however didn’t indicate whether the decision was ratified by the National Executive Council ahead of the ratification by the National Delegates Conference.
Kioni pointed out that the Former Interior Cabinet Secretary has previously portrayed he can steer the country towards the right trajectory having ably deputized Former President Kenyatta when they fell out with President Ruto, his deputy then.
“When Uhuru was running the country and William Ruto decided to go to the rooftop campaigning. When they were called ‘tangatanga’ the person who was left deputizing Uhuru was Matiangi. He was the one helping Uhuru to manage the country,” Kioni remarked.
“We want a person who can make the NHIF work by tomorrow, like trump has signed some executive orders and we can see things moving immediately!” he added.
The former powerful and ‘no-nonsense’ minister in Kenyatta’s regime—between 2013 and 2022—has kept a low profile after leaving office and has not publicly declared his interest in running for president. However, there has been speculation that he is preparing to bid for the highest office.
Last year, Matiangi was rumored to be eyeing the presidential seat after he hired a Montreal-based Canadian lobbying firm for $250,000 to garner international support.
Even with the assertions made by the Jubilee Secretary General, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) party had indicated that former Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi is set to be handpicked as its presidential flag bearer.
UPA National Chairman Nyambega Gisesa expressed that the party had commenced grassroots mobilization ahead of its party primaries in February this year.
The political party chaired by Nyamira Governor Amos Nyaribo has an uphill task of expanding its presence to other regions from its base in Gusii region.
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