Kalonzo borrows Raila’s playbook to boost Opposition profile

“Now is the time to get it right once and for all. On June 25, we want even the church to take time so that we all go to Parliament's entrance. Kenyans should go there and light candles and pray that the devil leaves that place because our children’s blood was shed there,” Mr Musyoka told a church congregation in Malindi.

The planned candle-lighting vigil suggested by Mr Musyoka underscores his bid to inherit Mr Odinga’s legacy of mass mobilisation, civil disobedience and opposition-led street action.

“In respect to the fallen heroes, we announce June 25 as Gen Z Day. That day, no work will be done,” he said during earlier rallies in Mombasa and Taita Taveta. “We will have a proper plan where the youth will tell us what to do on that day.”

Once Mr Odinga’s running mate in the 2013 and 2017 presidential elections, Mr Musyoka now finds himself in unfamiliar terrain of leading a fragmented opposition in the absence of a unifying political figure.

He says he refused to join the current “bloodstained” government despite Mr Odinga’s decision to collaborate with the President under the pretext of forming a broad-based government.

“I was astonished. When the youths were murdered, I asked (Raila) why he would go and form a government with the President. Remember, I have stood by Mr Odinga for 15 years. I refused to join that blood-based government,” he said.

During this year’s Madaraka Day celebrations in Homa Bay, Mr Odinga asked the President to compensate families of protesters killed last year. 

But his presence alongside Mr Ruto at a state function symbolised a wider rift between the old guard of the opposition and a new wave represented by Mr Musyoka and powered by younger voters.

Now, Mr Musyoka is actively courting that Gen Z demographic. 

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He has called on youths to register for IDs and become voters, urging them to join the Wiper party as he prepares to mount a serious challenge to Dr Ruto in the next general election.

“Youths will not be bought. They will be our agents. No more stealing of votes,” he said, adding that he will write to the Registrar of Persons to find out how many youths have acquired IDs in the past 24 months.

According to Mr Musyoka, an estimated nine million Gen Z voters hold the key to unseating the current administration. It’s a strategy reminiscent of Mr Odinga’s legendary ground game of relying on youth-led movements, regional tours and grassroots mobilisation.

Still, critics say Mr Musyoka’s efforts fall short of Mr Odinga’s mastery of political theatre and street activism. While Mr Odinga would draw thousands into city centre bringing businesses to a standstill, Mr Musyoka’s Coast tour saw minimal participation from local leaders aligned with the broad-based government.

Nevertheless, he has found an unexpected ally in former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Once part of President Ruto’s inner circle, Mr Gachagua has turned into one of his most vocal critics echoing Mr Musyoka’s allegations that the government is using state-sponsored empowerment programmes for political gain.

“Kenyans are fed up with lies. Ruto’s government has failed. We are surprised he is giving more goodies to his backyard. Kenyans have decided they will go home,” Mr Musyoka declared.

Mr Gachagua criticised the government for failing to fund public schools adequately and for rolling out the Social Health Authority (SHA) which he described as chaotic. He accused the President of sidelining regions outside the Rift Valley and using government funds to bait voters.

“Former President Mwai Kibaki gave Kenyans free education. Now Ruto says every parent must pay school fees so they can become beggars and clap for him,” said Mr Gachagua.

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The former Deputy President also dismissed the Ruto Odinga pact claiming it was aimed at containing Gen Z unrest and not fostering national unity.
“When they came together, they said they were uniting the country. But when I work with Kalonzo, they call us tribalists. We know they only came together to stabilise Ruto’s government to avoid the wrath of Gen Z,” he said.

While the opposition’s Coast tour was met with apathy by some local politicians, Mr Musyoka seems undeterred. He is banking on youth disillusionment, rising cost of living and what he terms “selective empowerment” to build a new wave of resistance.

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