The Jubilee Party has thrown a political curveball into Kenya’s 2027 presidential race, officially endorsing former Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i as its preferred candidate.
The move, announced by party brass in Nairobi on Thursday, sets the stage for a high-stakes showdown within the fractured Azimio la Umoja coalition, where multiple heavyweights are already jockeying for the top slot.
Jubilee Secretary General Jeremiah Kioni didn’t mince words during the press briefing, framing Matiang’i as the party’s standard-bearer while leaving room for coalition horse-trading.
“We’ve settled on Matiang’i as our candidate—not to mean that he becomes the eventual presidential candidate, but a presidential candidate within the party who would then join others in coming up with one person who, I believe, as a coalition we will be able to back,” Kioni said, signaling a pragmatic yet calculated play.
The endorsement is a shot in the arm for Matiang’i, whose name has been buzzing in political circles since he stepped back from the spotlight in 2022 following the end of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s tenure.
Party officials touted his stint as Interior CS, where he earned a reputation as a no-nonsense administrator, as evidence of his readiness to lead.
“His experience in government and governance track record speak for themselves,” one senior official said, asking not to be named as internal deliberations continue.
But this isn’t Matiang’i’s first rodeo in laying the groundwork for 2027. Last July, the former CS raised eyebrows when he inked a deal with Dickens & Madson, a Canadian lobbying outfit, to polish his image and grease the wheels for his presidential bid.
Documents leaked showed Matiang’i shelled out a cool $65,000 (Ksh.8.4 million) upfront, with a $250,000 (Ksh.32.3 million) retainer to follow.
The firm’s mandate? To “provide media and public relations services” and twist arms in Washington’s executive and legislative corridors to bolster his ambitions. It’s a bold—if pricey—gambit for a man who’d stayed mum on his plans until then.
Jubilee’s decision lands amid a brewing storm in Azimio, where coalition partners like Raila Odinga’s ODM and Kalonzo Musyoka’s Wiper Party are already flexing their muscles for the 2027 ticket.
Matiang’i’s entry as Jubilee’s pick threatens to upend the delicate balance, forcing a reckoning among allies still licking their wounds from the 2022 electoral drubbing.
For now, Matiang’i’s camp is playing it cool. The man himself has yet to comment publicly on the endorsement, leaving Kioni and company to do the talking.
But with nearly three years to go, the ex-CS’s blend of technocratic gravitas and international backing could make him a formidable contender—or a lightning rod for Azimio’s internal feuds.
