“I Am Ready to Lead This Country” Sifuna Dares Gachagua to Visit Bungoma, Promises Raila Strongholds

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has declared he is ready to lead the country, using an appearance in Nyeri to tell Rigathi Gachagua to walk through Bungoma and see for himself how firmly he holds Western Kenya.

Speaking in Swahili, Sifuna said he has truly “caught the ground” in Western.

He said he will also tour the areas Raila Odinga used to lead and bring the votes “to the table”, stating that from Wajir to Turkana, those were Raila’s strongholds.

“Niko tayari kabisa,” he said, meaning he is completely ready.

Western is the heart of his claim. In 2022, Raila won 1.02 million votes in the region against Ruto’s 630,000.

Sifuna comes from Bungoma, where Ruto beat Raila by nearly 100,000 votes.

His rally there on July 26 was billed as a homecoming, and one report said a star had been born, a “Raila Odinga reincarnate or something close to that”.

A July poll showed Sifuna recording the fastest growth among opposition politicians, overtaking Kalonzo Musyoka.

Gachagua has been warm too. He said at an event in Spokane, US, that he is ready to deputise Sifuna, and that Sifuna is an equal principal in the search for a joint candidate.

But the picture is not settled. Nairobi-based analysts have asked about how Luoland will vote if Sifuna carries the opposition flag while ODM remains in the broad-based government.

Unity talks involving Gachagua, Kalonzo and Sifuna’s camp have reportedly stalled over who should lead, according to a Citizen Digital analysis.

Kalonzo, for his part, has said he is willing to shelve his ambitions for unity.

Sifuna’s claim to northern Kenya’s votes is untested.

His camp has been focused on Western and, more recently, Raila’s traditional strongholds, but no published poll I found measures his strength from Wajir to Turkana.

For now, his message from Nyeri is simple: he wants to be at the table, and he says he arrives with votes.

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