{"id":131705,"date":"2026-02-22T09:02:48","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T09:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/we-will-not-back-kalonzo-or-matiangi-nlp-party-says\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T09:02:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T09:02:48","slug":"we-will-not-back-kalonzo-or-matiangi-nlp-party-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/we-will-not-back-kalonzo-or-matiangi-nlp-party-says\/","title":{"rendered":"We will not back Kalonzo or Matiang\u2019i, NLP Party says"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kenya\u2019s opposition politics is cracking under the weight of ambition, and the loudest fissure has come from the National Liberal Party (NLP).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Their presidential candidate, Dr. Augustus Kyalo Muli, has declared that his party will not automatically support either Kalonzo Musyoka or Fred Matiang\u2019i, insisting instead that he is the fresh alternative destined to reshape the 2027 race.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will form the next government or be part of the winning coalition,\u201d Muli thundered, in a statement that has jolted Azimio\u2019s fragile unity. His words were not just defiance\u2014they were a direct assault on Kalonzo\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cForty-five years of Kalonzo\u2019s leadership have not benefited the community. It is time for new leaders to rise,\u201d he charged, igniting a war of words that threatens to split the Kamba vote and destabilize the opposition\u2019s arithmetic.<\/p>\n

Azimio in Disarray<\/strong><\/p>\n

Azimio\u2019s center of gravity is already wobbling. Uhuru Kenyatta, as coalition chairman, has thrown his weight behind Matiang\u2019i. PNU has defected to Jubilee in Matiang\u2019i\u2019s corner. Kalonzo, meanwhile, has entrenched himself under the \u201cUnited Opposition\u201d banner. The rest of Azimio remains undecided, leaving the coalition\u2019s unity hanging by a thread.<\/p>\n

And while Azimio struggles to hold its center, ODM is tearing itself apart from within. The fallout between Party Leader Oburu Oginga and rebels led by Edwin Sifuna and Babu Owino has left Raila Odinga\u2019s party visibly fractured. ODM\u2019s split is noisy, public, and bruising. Muli\u2019s quiet rebellion, however, is equally dangerous\u2014he is breaking Azimio itself, less dramatically than ODM\u2019s implosion, but with potentially more devastating consequences.<\/p>\n

The Numbers Game<\/strong><\/p>\n

NLP now claims a membership of over 500,000. On paper, that may sound modest. But in the unforgiving mathematics of Kenyan politics, those numbers are seismic. In 2022, President William Ruto edged Raila Odinga by a margin of just 200,000 votes. Against that backdrop, NLP\u2019s half a million members are not a footnote\u2014they are a potential kingmaker bloc.<\/p>\n

Muli knows it. His refusal to bend to Kalonzo or Matiang\u2019i is not just bravado; it is a calculated gamble that his numbers, however underestimated, could tilt the scales in a razor-thin contest.<\/p>\n

The Rise of an Insurgent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Muli is not waiting for consensus. He is aggressively carving his own lane\u2014championing marginalized communities, rallying coastal voices, and promising bold, unifying leadership.<\/p>\n

His rhetoric is deliberately provocative: a dare to Azimio\u2019s establishment, a rallying cry to voters weary of political dynasties, and a direct challenge to Kalonzo\u2019s grip on the Kamba community.<\/p>\n

Months earlier, the Agikuyu Council of Elders quietly endorsed Muli, granting him blessings to campaign in Mt Kenya. Though not headline news today, the move underscored his growing influence and hinted at a potential GEMA\u2013Kamba alliance that could redraw Kenya\u2019s political map.<\/p>\n

The elders urged him to forge unity between the two blocs, a call that now resonates louder as Azimio\u2019s cohesion falters.<\/p>\n

The post We will not back Kalonzo or Matiang\u2019i, NLP Party says<\/a> appeared first on KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kenya\u2019s opposition politics is cracking under the weight of ambition, and the loudest fissure has come from the National Liberal Party (NLP). Their presidential candidate, Dr. Augustus Kyalo Muli, has declared that his party will not automatically support either Kalonzo Musyoka or Fred Matiang\u2019i, insisting instead that he is the fresh alternative destined to reshape […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}