Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale has said he will contest for governor of Kakamega in 2027 on the political party that Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna chooses for his presidential bid.
Khalwale, who currently serves as a senator on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, made the announcement on Friday, October 2, saying he was ready to drop his plans to use the United Patriotic Movement (UPM) ticket.
He said UPM founder members and the party’s interim National Executive Committee had agreed to support Sifuna, whether he chooses to run for president on the UPM ticket or another party.
Khalwale said Sifuna was free to decide which party he would use in the 2027 General Election.
“I want it to be clear that Edwin Sifuna’s hands are free to announce any party,” Khalwale said.
He added that if Sifuna chooses UPM, the party will support his presidential bid and allow him to fly the party’s flag under the Linda Mwananchi movement.
However, Khalwale said the arrangement would change if Sifuna picks another party.
He said UPM would set aside its certificate, support Sifuna and allow him to run for Kakamega governor on Sifuna’s party ticket.
“They have also resolved that, should he announce a party other than UPM, they will then shelve the UPM certificate and wholeheartedly support Sifuna and donate me to run in his party as the Governor of Kakamega in 2027,” he said.
Khalwale has in recent months openly supported Sifuna’s presidential ambitions as the Nairobi senator seeks to lead the Linda Mwananchi movement into the 2027 election.
The movement formally named Sifuna as its leader and presidential candidate after a meeting held on September 26.
Sifuna is expected to announce the party he will use in the 2027 presidential race in early October. Other parties, including Embakasi East MP Babu Owino’s The Mwananchi Party, are also associated with the wider Linda Mwananchi movement.
The movement has said it plans to work with other like-minded parties as it prepares for the presidential election.
Khalwale’s announcement came on the same day UPM received its full registration certificate from the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP).
Registrar J.C. Lorionokou said the certificate had been processed on June 26 but had not been collected by the party’s authorised founding members.
The registrar’s office also reminded UPM of its obligations ahead of the 2027 election, including membership management, governance, conflict resolution and financial declarations.