Busia Senator and declared 2027 presidential contender Okiya Omtatah has revealed his net worth to be between Ksh.100 million and Ksh.200 million, attributing his wealth to land investments and a transport business.
Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV’s The Explainer on Tuesday night, the activist-turned-legislator dismissed the notion that financial muscle is essential to win elections, saying his past campaigns have been driven by ideas, not money.
“I own quite a bit of land, which I’ve been buying piece by piece. I run a transport company with several trucks,” said Omtatah. “I haven’t calculated my net worth precisely, but if everything was valued—land, assets, everything—I think it’s somewhere between Ksh.100 million and Ksh.200 million, and I can account for each of them.”
His statement comes amid growing public interest in the wealth declarations of political figures ahead of the 2027 General Election, where integrity, transparency and economic justice are expected to dominate the campaign agenda.
Omtatah, a prominent public litigation figure known for his battles in court over unconstitutional government actions, challenged the culture of money-powered politics, recounting how he won the Busia Senate seat in 2022 without dishing out cash.
“I didn’t have money. I just had a mic. I spoke, and people listened,” he said. “If you go across Busia, you’ll hardly find people who received money from me, yet I got the highest individual vote. People will vote for you if they believe in your message.”
Rejecting personality politics in favour of policy-driven campaigning, he added in Kiswahili: “Hatutaenda kuuza sura, tutaenda kuuza sera. Sura ndio inahitaji pesa kuuza, lakini sera haihitaji pesa kusukuma.”
Omtatah’s remarks set the tone for what could be a values-based presidential campaign challenging Kenya’s entrenched political norms.
