Kalonzo Shakes Up Wiper Leadership as Edwin Sifuna Overtakes Him in Latest Opinion Poll

Wiper Patriotic Front leader Kalonzo Musyoka has reshuffled the party’s top leadership as he seeks to strengthen his political machinery ahead of Kenya’s 2027 General Election, even as a new opinion poll places Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna ahead of him in the presidential race.

Kalonzo on Friday appointed former Cabinet minister Jamleck Irungu Kamau as Wiper’s new chairman, Nyali MP Mohamed Ali as Deputy Party Leader designate and lawyer Ndegwa Njiru as the party’s first spokesperson.

The changes followed a mandate given to Kalonzo by delegates at the party’s National Delegates Congress, according to a statement issued by the Wiper leader.

Mr Kamau, a former Nairobi Metropolitan Development Cabinet minister and two-term Kigumo MP, takes over as chairman, with Kalonzo describing him as an experienced coalition builder who will help prepare the party for the 2027 contest.

“Kamau has spent thirty years building coalitions, balancing budgets, and holding fractious political houses together under pressure. That is precisely the discipline the Wiper Patriotic Front needs,” he said.

Mr Ali’s appointment gives Wiper a prominent Coast-based politician and former investigative journalist a senior role in the party leadership.

Kalonzo said the Nyali MP would also help the party connect with younger voters.

“Ali brings not only the Coast region, but a younger generation of hard-working Kenyans who want to live in a country that respects and rewards integrity over patronage, into the very heart of this party’s leadership,” said Kalonzo.

Mr Njiru becomes Wiper’s first party spokesperson, a new position that puts him in charge of presenting the party’s position to the public as the 2027 political contest gathers pace.

Kalonzo described the appointments as a deliberate attempt to strengthen the party rather than reward political loyalty.

“These are not appointments of convenience but of conviction. A coalition builder, a man of proven integrity, and a defender of the rule of law — each of them a perfect fit for a party whose only agenda is to Komboa Kenya,” he said.

The changes come as Kalonzo and other opposition leaders continue efforts to forge a united political front against President William Ruto ahead of the 2027 election.

Kalonzo said consultations were ongoing among opposition parties to establish what he called a single political front capable of forming a “United Alternative Government-in-Waiting.”

Sifuna Overtakes Kalonzo

The Wiper shake-up also comes as Kalonzo faces increased competition within the opposition from younger political figures.

A TIFA opinion poll released on July 24 placed Sifuna ahead of Kalonzo in presidential preference, with the Nairobi senator recording 15 per cent support against Kalonzo’s 13 per cent.

President Ruto led the poll, while former Interior Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i was also ahead of Kalonzo at 14 per cent.

The TIFA findings represented a sharp rise for Sifuna, who had recorded negligible support in earlier surveys, while Kalonzo’s rating declined.

The results differed from a July Infotrak poll that had placed Kalonzo at 13 per cent and Sifuna at 12 per cent in presidential preference.

The competing poll results come as opposition parties negotiate possible alliances ahead of the 2027 presidential contest, with Kalonzo seeking to maintain his position among the leading opposition contenders.

Kalonzo Challenges IEBC

Kalonzo also criticised the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission over remarks suggesting that elections could not be conducted under the current political environment.

He further condemned what he described as state-sponsored handouts during by-election campaigns.

The Wiper leader insisted that the 2027 General Election would proceed as scheduled and said the ballot would ultimately determine Kenya’s political direction.

“The only conversation Kenyans will have that matters is the one they will have on August 10, 2027 — at the ballot.”

Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka reshuffles the party leadership as a new TIFA poll puts Edwin Sifuna ahead of him in Kenya’s 2027 presidential race.

Ndegwa Njiru, one of Kalonzo Musyoka’s new appointees, recently told Ugandan bush war generals that their silence about fellow comrade Dr Kizza Besigye’s suffering was betrayal, as reported Here.