Former Trade and Industry Cabinet minister Mukhisa Kituyi has explained his decision to step down as spokesperson of the United Opposition, citing the coalition’s failure to establish a joint secretariat and agree on common political positions ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Kituyi said he initially invested time and resources in setting up a central office for the opposition after being appointed its spokesperson and head of the secretariat in September 2025.
Speaking on JKL on Wednesday, Kituyi said he took the assignment seriously and moved to establish a functional secretariat that would coordinate the activities of the opposition parties.
“When I was designated spokesperson of the opposition and head of secretariat, I set about trying to establish a secretariat,” he said.
He said he even made his former political party offices available for the proposed arrangement and started putting furniture in place before the plan ran into difficulties.
However, the coalition failed to agree on a common office, forcing the plans to be abandoned.
“So this effort failed even if we had paid deposit on subsequent facility we had to abandon that as an idea or deferred indefinitely,” he said.
Kituyi said the failure to establish the secretariat exposed a wider problem within the opposition, with political parties continuing to operate through their individual structures despite publicly advocating for unity.
“We were not walking the talk,” he said.
He said the opposition still wanted to unite behind a single presidential candidate to challenge President William Ruto in 2027 but struggled to agree on common issues and positions.
“When we discuss issues that we take a common position, it has been very difficult to have everybody sign up to a common position,” Kituyi said.
According to Kituyi, parties would often issue their own statements or hold press conferences involving only a few members instead of developing positions that could be communicated on behalf of the wider opposition.
“I thought I was just like a cog in the wheel of persons who want to appropriate the space of talking to the media about what they think and what they promise on the behalf of their parties,” he said.
Kituyi said he eventually concluded that his time would be better spent helping develop a political programme that could give the opposition a clearer policy direction before settling on its presidential candidate.
He said he had deliberately avoided seeking an elective position and instead viewed his role as providing a neutral hand capable of helping different opposition parties identify issues around which they could rally.
He has now joined Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna’s Linda Mwananchi movement, which is positioning itself ahead of the 2027 elections. Sifuna welcomed Kituyi into the team on September 9, describing him as a “great addition”.
Kituyi said Linda Mwananchi offered him an opportunity to concentrate on developing policy content that could eventually be shared with leaders across the opposition.
“So I thought I find more use for my time helping to work with the team that is building the content of Linda Mwananchi and then sharing this with the other leaders from the United opposition,” he said.
He, however, insisted that his departure from the spokesperson position did not mean he had abandoned the opposition.
“I’m still part of the opposition,” he said, adding that he had “free[d] my hand” to support Linda Mwananchi while hoping the ideas developed by the movement would help bring opposition leaders closer together.
Kituyi was appointed spokesperson and head of the United Opposition Secretariat on September 3, 2025. The coalition had planned to establish a central secretariat to coordinate communication, strategy and other activities ahead of the 2027 election.
