Why Kalonzo should be Kenya's next president
Opinion
By
Faith Wekesa
| Nov 19, 2025
I hope Kalonzo Musyoka is our sixth.
One of the hardest things about the 2022 election loss for Azimio was the realisation that it was, in all likelihood, Raila Odinga’s final run for the presidency. It felt like the finite end to a dream that most of us hoped would one day come to pass.
I must admit, in the heat of the elections, some of us silently wished the opponent would somehow relent and allow Baba this one chance at it. Just one. But it did not happen. And with that died our hope for a people-driven politics anchored in principle and respect for the Constitution, or so we thought.
That is why Kalonzo Musyoka’s quest for the presidency matters now more than ever. He may just be the last politician from that era whose manner of doing politics resonates across generations. His candidacy may be the one statement that will affirm that there is more to leadership than the circus we have been treated to or what we have been made to believe for far too long.
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Kalonzo has been called soft, indecisive, even lukewarm, but maybe he actually is the statesman we continue to overlook. A man who moves with great caution while exercising great restraint is a man aware of who he is and how his words can inform a country’s trajectory. This kind of discipline is not weakness. It is maturity.
Kenyans are generally confrontational, and nowhere do we display this trait like we do in politics. We celebrate noise. We mistake aggression for leadership, and glorify those who stoke our anger rather than those who appeal to our conscience. We do not care about anyone’s depth if they can work our emotions to a frenzy. We measure leadership by volume rather than value. Even better when they have a sharp tongue.
And that is why Kalonzo unsettles many. His politics is refreshingly different. He employs persuasion rather than insult, reason over noise, chooses consensus over drama, and that annoys the abrasive demons in us.
John Dramani Mahama, former Ghanaian president, comes to mind when one thinks of a leader with Kalonzo’s temperament. Mahama was considered ‘too polite’ to lead, yet he steadily steered his country during a turbulent economic period. His tenure demonstrated that soft power, when grounded in principle, can be transformative.
We need a Kalonzo win to demonstrate that soft power is a powerful mark of leadership. It will validate those considered ‘less brilliant’ because they approach issues with a heart. It will remind us that empathy is not a flaw. It’s an invaluable attribute.
A Kalonzo win will affirm those who are considered less ambitious because they do not bully their way to things and places, and remind us that ambition does not require trampling on others.
It will remind those who embrace diplomacy over being right that the means qualify the end.
The most remarkable thing this win can do, however, is to remind us of the powerful yet most forgotten virtue of selflessness. Not once, not twice, but three times, did he put his ambition aside for the bigger picture, aligning with coalitions, stepping back in others for what he believed was the larger good. In a country where the phrase 'politics is about interest' is the anthem, Kalonzo’s restraint reminds us that amongst us walk men and women who do not allow their raw ambition to control them.
Kalonzo’s win may just be the one thing that will send us back to factory reset as a nation and remind us of things to value, the virtues to uphold, and what to teach our children to hold dear.
So yes, I hope Kalonzo becomes our 'sixth', if for nothing else, but to remind us that choosing one’s country’s wellbeing is not weakness. That decency, selflessness and calmness have a place in leadership. That stability can come from a soft but firm place and that decency, humility, and service are still in fashion. That one does not need to be perfect to be a leader, but one can perfect their leadership by choosing the larger good at all times.
Ms Wekesa is a development communication consultant